


Clementine

by ZVArmy



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 23:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13177584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZVArmy/pseuds/ZVArmy
Summary: Follow Clementine Rollins, the daughter of Seth and Lucy, as she begins her journey as a professional wrestler. Will she make a success of her attempt to follow in her parent's footsteps? *Part 3 of my Lucy Thorne series*





	1. Chapter 1

__

_A/N: Below is the roster of created characters I have accepted so far for this story. If you're interested, take a look and read some information about them._

_In addition to Clementine, there will be another OC of mine in this story. Readers of my previous works will know her well. ;)_

_I will be starting work on the story's first chapter tomorrow._

* * *

**_Roster_ **

Name: Mackenzie Blake Sawyer

In-Ring Name: Andromeda (means beautiful star)

Hometown: Portsmouth, NH

Age, Height Weight: 20yo 5'6" 140lbs

Trained By: MCW Pro Wrestling Training Center in Maryland (Joey Mercury teaches the Finishing Classes)

Disposition: Fluid, prefers Babyface work.

Style of Wrestler: Technical, Mat based.

Finishing Move: Seeing Stars (Anaconda Vice Hold)

Bio: Mack was 7 when her mom left her and her older brother, Chase. She was glad, their mom was a bitch. Even at her age, she could tell the woman only kept them around for the welfare checks. She didn't care as long as her mom paid the internet bill. She obsessed over wrestling and followed any and all promotions, whatever she could find online. Her favorite was WWE and she spent many hours of her days searching YouTube for crappy rips of RAW, Smackdown, and PPVs, usually being forced to endure 1/4 sized viewing screens and audio that sounded like everyone was on their last breath of helium. Her brother didn't watch with her, he was to into looking at stars and strumming his guitar but he took care of her otherwise. When their mom left, Child Services wanted to put them in foster care but Chase contacted his dad and asked for help. Mack would learn in her teen years that he was actually Chase's stepdad and had left when Mom got pregnant with her. She tried to hold it against the man and resent him but it was hard to when he had been so good to her after their mom ditched them. He turned his entire world upside down to help two kids who's mother was the woman that broke his heart. When she was 16, she heard some boys at school talking about wrestling schools and how they were going as soon as they graduated. She immediately wanted to go and began researching the best ones. When she told her adoptive dad she wanted to go, he let her. But Chase had to at least accompany her and he hired a home-schooling teacher so she would graduate. Mack convinced Chase to sign up as well and the siblings quickly grew closer over their common natural ability for wrestling.

* * *

Name: Chase Roscoe Sawyer

In-Ring Name: Orion (think the star constellation)

Hometown: Portsmouth, NH

Age, Height Weight: 25yo 6' 220lbs

Trained By: MCW Pro Wrestling Training Center in Maryland (Joey Mercury teaches the Finishing Classes)

Disposition: Fluid, prefers Heel work.

Style of Wrestler: Ground and Pound, Power and Strength based.

Finishing Move: Galactic Slam (Double Underhook Sidewalk Slam)

Bio: Chase wasn't a hardcore wrestling fanatic growing up like his sister was. He could've cared less about it. He was much more into Astronomy and playing guitar. He was the product of a one night stand and his wench of a mother never stopped reminding him of it. His mom married his stepfather when Chase was two and he'd loved his dad. But a little over two years into the marriage, his mom got pregnant again and his father filed for divorce (though after he left, he still send Chase Birthday and Christmas cards every year). Chase would learn in his teens that his stepdad was unable to have kids due to medical reasons meaning his sister was the product of their mother being unfaithful. When he was 13, their mother left for work one day and never came back. They'd grown up without any relatives to speak of so Chase tracked his stepfather down and asked for his help. His stepdad took him and his 7 year old sister in, adopting them and raising them as his. When his sister was 16, she said she wanted to be a wrestler and didn't want to wait any longer. Mackenzie had begged Chase to join her for wrestling school and, if only out of curiosity, he did. Their father paid for training and an apartment in Maryland, sending them to where Mack said she wanted to go. Chase ended up exceling at wrestling and fell in love with sports entertainment.

* * *

Name - Logan "Lo" McMahon

In-ring name (if different) - Trey Logan

Hometown -Gaithersburg, MD

Height -6,2"

Weight -225 lbs

Trained by - The "American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan

Disposition (Face/Heel/Neutral) -Neutral, but tends to lean heel

Style of Wrestler -Heavy on kicks, but not afraid of the ropes. Much like early Daniel Bryan and the Stardust persona.

Finishing Move (Description) -Coup we grace: a modified version of Finns finisher from the top rope, where he stomps the opponent. He also performs a "Lo-Lock", which is a standing crossface.

Character bio -in a huge act if defiance, Logan decides to get into the family business despite Shane McMahons wishes. Being a McMahon, Shane believes his son deserves the best of everything. So, when he chose to go to wrestling school over and Ivy League College, the disappointment was huge. Shane even threatened to take away his trust fund. But, that just made Logan even more salty. He went and found one of the WWE's biggest rivals to train with in Cody Rhodes. Additionally, he would go on to train with Daniel Bryan.

Now, Logan is heading to the performance center to prove that he is where he is supposed to be. He even went so far to drop his last name from his identity. The last thing that he wanted was to be treated differently because of his family name. Logan is mostly interested in proving his worth, despite his lineage. His main goal is to get to the top of the mountain on his own, without any help from Dad.

* * *

Name: Amy Morgan

Hometown: Sanford, Florida

Height: 5ft 11

Weight: 130lbs

Trained by: Saraya Knight, Paige, WWE Performance Center team.

Disposition: Face

Style: Acrobatic, high flying.

Finisher: Shooting Star Press

Bio: Amy didn't get into wrestling till later in life. Her goal was to be a model. But once she was there, she didn't enjoy it. Despite jobs with everyone from Victoria's Secret to Gucci, the spark wasn't there. The parties were and she tried to fill the void with drink, leading to a couple of unfortunate headlines and run ins with the law. She met Paige in an Orlando bar, drunk off her ass and had to be helped home by her. They became friends and then workout partners. Paige saw her natural talent, hearing about her gymnast days in school. She got her mother in to help due to her history of training wrestlers, and they got her ready for a WWE try-out, which she flew through. There was a lot of negativity around her signing, that she was hired for her looks, that we were falling into bad habits again, but she works herself hard to continually improve, and earned the respect of most. When she debuted on NXT, the way the crowd reacted, not with restrained applause like a runway show, but with cheers and chants, she knew she'd found her calling.

* * *

Name: Selena Robbins

In-ring name (if different): Rieke (woman who has the power of a wolf)

Hometown: Manchester, England.

Height: 5 foot 8 inches

Weight: 130 pounds

Trained by: Charlotte, Becky Lynch

Disposition (face/heel/neutral): Neutral mainly, doesn't feel the need to have an alliance with anyone but will do the right thing, doesn't let anyone manipulate her, always looking for a fight

Style of wrestler: A bit of everything without it appearing impossible. So, hard quick hits, likes inflicting pain with submissions, able to pick women up with ease to slam them down type of thing. On this note we won't have her doing a lot of high flying, although, I would like the suicide dive in there for definite, one of my favourite moves!

Finishing move (description): Finishing move is the GTS, renamed Wolf's Lair

Character bio: Selena has been wrestling since the age of 16. That's when her parents died, leaving her to care for her sister whose 4 years younger, Mia. Their parents did leave them some money which helped them survive in addition to Selena taking up a job as a waitress. She did the wrestling stuff on the side when she had the extra time, believing that would be the way out for her. None of their family were willing to take them in so she broke off any contact with all of them. At the age of 20, she was able to facilitate a move to the US, taking up residency in Florida. For two years she was on the independent scene, improving her skills and making more money. At the age of 22 she was accepted by the WWE performance Centre where she was trained. She managed to get to NXT and was then moved up to the main roster and is now 24. Mia is still living with her, pursuing a degree in medicine. She does get on with the girls in the locker room but that's about it. She's polite and offers advice or comfort if needed. She doesn't share personal stories due to issues with trust when her whole family didn't help her in her time of need. The only person she relies on is herself and Mia.


	2. Chapter 2

_**June 2027** _

At 9am precisely, Bayley Martinez walked into the outer office of WWE Chairman Hunter Helmsley. She was dressed for business in a light grey dress. Such a formal appearance wasn't her kind of thing, but it was necessary when she was summoned to HQ to see the boss. As the senior female trainer at WWE's Performance Center, it was something that happened several times a year, when she was required to report on her understudies, some of them already competing on the NXT roster, others having not yet made it that far.

Quite frankly, in her opinion, these meetings were not needed. They never lasted very long, and the content of them could just as easily be conducted over a video call. But Hunter had his own way of working, and speaking to all of his senior employees face to face on at least a semi-regular basis was one of them. She supposed that made sense, now that she thought about it.

"Good morning," Mr Helmsley's receptionst said politely as Bayley walked in.

"Good morning. I'm here to see the boss. I'm just about on time, I think."

The receptionist smiled and gestured towards Hunter's open door. "You are, and you can go right in."

"Thank you." Bayley walked over to the office and saw Hunter sitting behind his desk, making notes on some kind of document. With a hint of a smile, Bayley wondered if the silver pen he was using was worth more or less than her car. His watch was definitely worth more. Shaking off such materialistic thoughts, she knocked lightly on the open door to announce her presense.

Hunter looked up and greeted her with a smile. "Morning, Bayley. Come in and have a seat. I'll be with you in a second."

"Morning, Hunter. How are you?" Bayley asked as she walked over and sat down on one of the two chairs in front of the desk.

"Good, thank you. And you?" he asked, attention now back on making notes.

"Great, thanks," Bayley smiled, not that he saw it. While she waited, she shuffled through the reports that she had brought with her. Her new assistant down in Florida had compiled them for her, in a much more streamlined manner than she had presented them herself in the past. She hoped that Hunter would agree when she gave him his copies. Each sheet had a picture of the wrestler in question, followed by a brief bio, a summary of their progress in training, and lastly some bullet points for both their strengths and weaknesses.

Eventually, Hunter reached the bottom of the page he had been working on and set the doment aside. "Sorry about that," he said when he looked at Bayley. "I didn't want to lose my train of thought."

"No problem," Bayley said, for want of anything else. She held out his copies of the reports. "I brought reports on all of the girls. My new assistant put them together for me. I hope you like the new style."

Hunter took them, set all but the top one down on the desk, then studied the one in his hand for a minute without comment. "Good," was his verdict when he finally spoke. "Can you get me a set of these once a month from now on?"

"Sure," Bayley agreed, glad that she had someone else to handle the admin for her.

"Might as well start with this one," Hunter said, branishing the report in his hand. "Amy Morgan. You've put here that she is progressing surprisingly well, particularly with her mat wrestling. Surprisingly?" he enquired with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Surprisingly is fair, I think," Bayley said studiously. "I think we both know Amy was a bit of a punt on your part when you signed her."

"Yeah, you could say that," Hunter conceded. "She had done some training with Paige and her mother, and Paige personally asked me to give her a shot."

"Right," Bayley nodded. Apparently neither of them were going to mention that Amy was a stunningly beautiful former lingerie model. It didn't take much cynicism to start wondering if her looks had pushed Hunter across the line towards signing her rather than rejecting her. "As you know, recommendation and training aside, Amy was very rough around the edges when she first came down to Florida. Honestly, I expected to give her three months or so then let her go. But she has impressed me with her work ethic and willingness to learn. Her work in the ring isn't particularly orthodox, but she really does want to make a success of this. Her first few matches on NXT haven't been too bad, in my opinion. Give her the time, and I think she has some genuine potential."

"You think she could be main roster material in the future?"

Bayley nodded. "It's definitely possible. My recommendation, as you see on the report, is to stick with her." She was glad that after only a couple of years in her new role, Hunter allowed and trusted her to not only make recommendations like that to him, he would often listen to them. In her favour was the fact that she had proven herself to be a good judge of character and talent.

Hunter set Amy Morgan's report aside and picked up the next one. "Ah, from someone getting started, to someone who's about ready to step up. Elena D'Agostino," he announced.

The first female Italian wrestler in WWE, Elena had carved out a role for herself in NXT as one of the brand's best heels. Her powerful, no nonsense, hight impact style in the ring was perfect for the part, as was her thick Italian accent. At one of the previous meetings with Bayley, Hunter had found himself comparing Elena to a Bond villain. It was an idea that had stuck in his mind, and it was how she had been booked ever since.

Nodding again, Bayley said, "You said it yourself, she's about ready to step up. She's been the NXT Women's Champion twice, she's over as a heel, and there's nothing else I can really offer her in training. I'd say she's main roster ready whenever you want to pull the trigger on it."

"Agreed," Hunter said without thinking about it. "That was one of the things I had in mind to say to you today. We'll have her called up in the coming weeks, depending on creative. Once she's main roster established, I've got a gimmick in mind for her."

"Go on, please." Bayley loved this kind of discussion. Fantasy booking and gimmick creation had been a hobby of hers since she had first gotten into wrestling as a kid. Her enthusiasm for it had not diminished in the least over the years.

"I see her in the role of a mafia boss. For obvious reasons, we wouldn't actually use the word mafia, but we would still make it abundantly clear that's what we're going for."

"I like it," Bayley said thoughtfully. "So, presumably Elena would have other women working for her, serving under her, whatever the right term is in the mafia?"

"Exactly. She would have an underboss, and then at least two more women below that level. That's how mafia families are structured, in very basic terms anyway."

"Quite a big team then, four or five women. Not that I'm saying that's a bad thing; it's just a lot for the faces to go up against."

"That's true, but we can of course have some of the faces team up to take them on. Maybe we can work it so that the three English women we have are all on the same roster as this mafia team."

Bayley liked that idea. A few years earlier, the move had been made to have the main roster's women divided between Raw and Smackdown in the same way that the men were. At the time, the decision had been widely criticised, but it had worked out fine. The three women in question were Lucy Rollins, the big star of women's wrestling, who was unfortunately probably not all that far from the end of her career, Paige, and Selena Robbins, a recent call up from NXT who worked under the name Rieke, which meant 'woman who has the power of a wolf.' A team of those three ladies would be a formidable one indeed. "Yes, that's a very good idea," she said.

"Anyway, that's a way down the line. Let's see who's next." Hunter picked up the next report. "Ah, Mackenzie Sawyer. She's one I definitely like the look of." He read alound from the report, choosing the part that he agreed with: the positive bullet points: "Very suitable for babyface work. Excellent technique. Proficient mat wrestler."

"Mack's got a lot of talent," Bayley confirmed. "However, I would leave her in NXT for a while longer."

"Yes," Hunter agreed. "As you've listed here, her promo work needs a lot of work, and she could use some improvement on her selling. She's got the basics to make something of herself, but she needs fine tuning."

"We're working on it," Bayley assured him. "But yes, we need to get her into some more classes for her promo work."

"I'll set that up," Hunter said, making a note for himself on his copy of Mackenzie's report. "While we're at it, what do you make of her brother?"

"Chase? Well, I don't train the guys..."

"I know that," Hunter said patiently. "But that doesn't mean you don't get to see them work and form an opinion. I'm asking for your input, not for you to stake your job on the guy."

"Of course, sorry," Bayley said, feeling a little chastised. "He's not a particularly easy person to talk to. You know when people are kind of distant? But having said that, he's fiercly loyal to his sister, which is admirable, and you can tell he enjoys himself in the ring. As far as his work is concerned, he's all power game. If you have a need for that kind of thing in a heel, he could be your guy. For anything more than that, you'd really have to speak to one of the guys who are training him."

Hunter had not gained anything from that exchange that he hadn't already known, but it had been worth a shot. "Next," he said simply, picking up another report.

They worked their way down the pile, discussing each female wrestler in turn. Sadly for Bayley, who never liked to upset people, there were a couple for which she had no choice but to recommend their release, as they simply were not up to the required standard. It was the one part of her job that she hated.

Knowing exactly that, and seeing it written all over Bayley's face, Hunter made a decision. "I'll come down and handle it. I don't get down there anything like as often as I would like these days, so it will be good to see everyone."

"Thanks, Hunter," Bayley said, not bothering to try and hide her relief. She had worked for the guy for well over ten years now; he knew her like the back of his hand.

There was one report remaining. Hunter picked it up and smiled at the picture of a young African-American woman wearing a white and dark blue baseball cap. "Clementine Rollins," he announced. He had known the adopted daughter of Seth and Lucy Rollins for almost as long as they had, due to the fact that she had been a semi-regular guest backstage since the age of ten. Way back then, she had expressed her determination to be a wrestler. That determination had never lessened over time. Now, nineteen year old Clem was just getting started on NXT after working with Bayley and her team for several months. Reading down the report, Hunter paused at the bullet point section. There were only two in the negative column: inexperienced in the ring, and limited move set.

"Inexperienced in the ring, and limited move set? That's all you had to put down for negatives?" he asked, looking up at Bayley.

"Honestly, yes. And even those are more of a statement of the obvious than negatives, since we're talking about a nineteen year old. I put them there so that there was something. There are no real weaknesses in her that I can see. DDP really did a great job with her training, that much is obvious. We both know how determined she's always been to succeed, but I get the impression that Seth and Lucy have also driven her quite hard."

"Well, Seth especially knows how hard it can be to make it in this business," Hunter said. He chose not to make a point of the fact that Lucy had only managed to do it because Stephanie had picked her out as a potential signing and had then been insistent that she should be pushed consistently. To her credit, Lucy had stuck with the business long after she had made enough money to hang up her boots. It showed that, in time, she had come to love wrestling as much as her husband, who also still wrestled part time for the company.

"I know it'll be my job to make sure she keeps her head down and keeps up that determined attitude. If she does, the sky is the limit for Clem, as far as I'm concerned. Her promo work in particular is amazing; the best of anyone I've trained. In addition to that, she has promising technique, a convincing striking game, and she can really sell. Put a good gimmick on her, because in two or three years, she's going to be the star of the women's division on whatever brand you put her on."

Hunter nodded thoughtfully. "I have to ask, is there any chance that you're swayed by the fact that you've known her since she was a kid?"

"No, not at all," Bayley said indignantly. "If anything, I've been trying to judge her more critically than the others for that exact reason."

It was as Hunter had expected, but it was still a question that had needed to be asked. "Fair enough," he said pleasantly. "And yet, you recommend her this highly?"

Bayley was stuck in the positon of trying to explain what a potential star they had on their hands, without sounding like she was gushing. "She has natural talent, nine years of being around the business, determination to succeed, a willingness both to learn herself and to help the others learn, and she's a genuinely nice girl, as you know. I think that's as important as the other things, in some ways."

"It is," Hunter agreed. "I'm happy to hear how much of a prospect you think Clem is, Bayley, but I need you to keep it from her. She's young, and if you let on what we think of her it might go to her head. That would be a bad thing, needless to say. Making sure she develops into what you belive she can be, if you're correct, is going to be your biggest challenge to date. Get it right, and it will also be your biggest achievement."

Having not thought of it in quite those terms before, Bayley took in a deep breath and nodded seriously. "Trust me, I've got this."


	3. Chapter 3

_**January 2029** _

Clementine Rollins turned off her cell phone and put it in her pocket. Doing so was necessary for two reasons. Firstly, she was about to walk into WWE Headquarters to see Hunter Helmsley, and secondly, having the phone turned off stopped her calling her parents and spoiling the news that the Chairman had specifically told her to keep secret from everyone.

"And I do mean everyone," Hunter had emphasised on the phone the previous afternoon, when he had called her out of the blue.

"I hear you, Mr Helmsley," Clem had replied, sarcastically thinking how hard could it be not to tell any of her family of friends that she was going to the office the next day to sign a main roster contract?

That moment was now almost at hand. These days, NXT was run as an entirely separate entity by WWE. New signees were almost almost signed to development deals, which covered them to compete on NXT programming. Anyone who made the grade and was called up to the main roster was offered and required to sign a new deal. The new contract would be for more money, of course, but it also tied down the competitor in all manner of commerical and copyright respects that Clementine could not have been less interested in. There was only one wrestling company she was ever going to work for, and she trusted Hunter to be fair with her where money was concerned. He always had been with her mom and dad, after all.

The big deal for her was not the increase in earnings, important though that was, since Seth and Lucy had been insistant that she make her own way in the world. They were very well off, and they were supportive parents, but she was being made to learn the value of money by going out there and earning her own. There were no easy handouts in the Rollins family, and Clem appreciated that, realising that she was learning important life lessons. The day when she had scraped enough money together to put down a deposit on an apartment in Orlando had been one of the happiest and proudest of her life to date. Those emotions would not have existed if the funds had been given to her by her parents.

Catching sight of herself in her rental car's rear-view mirror, Clem told herself to stop daydreaming. And while she was at it, she had better take her baseball cap off. Although she felt almost naked without one, having worn one almost constatly for as long as she could remember, it simply wasn't appropriate for a meeting with Mr Helmsley, as she still referred to him. That particular habit was almost eleven years old now. What a scary thought that was.

"Just get in there, before he changes his mind," she told the reflection. Not that there was any danger of that actually happening. Although she was ever conscious of the importance of being humble, Clementine had known for some time that this day was inevitable. It was a question of timing, not decision making. There was no way WWE were going to opt not to call up the woman who was arguably the most over of any female competitor in NXT history.

To claim all of the credit for the success she'd had so far in her short career would have been foolish and egocentric, however. DDP and Bayley were first in line, as far as she was concerned. They were the ones who had taken the Diamond in the Rough – a fitting description for her, and now the name of her finishing move, otherwise known as DDP's own Diamond Cutter - and had molded her into a wrestler who could put on an exceptional match, even with a rather limited move set.

"Work with your strengths, and use them to hide your weaknesses," Bayley had often said. Clem had done exactly that. For the entirity of her career thus far, she had worked as a babyface, mostly booked against the top heel at that particular time, or even against more than one at a time. No matter the odds, she would never show a hint of fear. Hunter's reasoning behing the booking was that the fans got behind Clem because of her top quality promo work, and the fact that she could sell an ass kicking like no other. That fact made her eventual comeback, when she mounted one, seem all the more impressive, as well as making the matches or segments good to watch. The dynamics were simple, and indeed so was the ring work on most occasions, albeit with some of the beatings taking a toll on her body. Aches, pains and bruises were a small price to pay, though. When her music hit and the roof came off an arena, or when she was being shouted down during one of her promos by the fans chanting her name, it was all worth it. There was no feeling like it. Now it was all going to be turned up a notch further, when she joined the Raw roster.

For Clem, there would be not one set of proud parents, but two. Her birth mother and father would be looking down on her and smiling, she had no doubt about that. "I love you," she said quietly after closing her eyes for a moment.

Not wanting to get upset, Clem forced herself to get out of the car and walk into the building. It was a good job she had arrived early, because when she checked her watch, she realised she had wasted more time sitting in the car than it had seemed. She was now only just in time for her meeting.

A few mintes later, Clementine was entering Hunter Helmsley's outer office. The receptionist had changed since the last time she had been there, so she felt the need to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Clementine Rollins."

"Good morning, Clementine," the middle aged blonde replied politely. "Mr Helmlsey is ready to see you." She got up to lead the way; a gesture that Clementine found to be entirely unnecessary. But then, the woman probably didn't know that she had known the guy since she was ten.

"Clementine Rollins to see you, sir," the receptionist announced, just inside the doorway.

Hunter had been sitting comforably in his expensive leather chair, apparently not in the middle of any work. He stood up to greet his visitor. "Clem, come in. Good to see you."

"Mr Helmsley. It's good to see you, too," Clem said as she walked in and accepted his handshake. He gestured for her to sit, and as she did so, her eyes wandered to the contract that was sitting on his desk, waiting for a signature from each of them.

Hunter took his seat and clapped his hands together once, a gesture Clem recognised and one that signalled he was happy with something. There were no prizes for guessing what it was on this occasion.

"Today's the day, Clem," he said. "You've put a lot of hard work in to get this far. What is it, two and a half years now?"

"Eleven," Clem said with a crooked smile. She had known exactly what he meant, and he would now know exactly what she meant in turn. Way back when, he had told her not to expect a chance at a job with WWE if she didn't take care of her body and graduate school. Often during her teens, a prospective wrestling career had been her only motivation to do either of those things.

"Right," Hunter chuckled. Gesturing to the contract, he said, "Before we sign this, I think we should talk about how we're going to use you on Raw."

Clementine had assumed that was obvious: a continuation of the way she was used on NXT. But if he had other plans, she would have to listen to them. "You want to change my character?" she asked. As she said it, she realised she hadn't done that good a job of hiding her distaste for the idea.

Hunter barked a laugh this time. "No. That's precisely what I was going to say. We're on to a good thing with you on NXT. It would be crazy to tinker with it when we called you up. We've had talent get wasted like that in the past, but not anymore."

Now that Vince isn't around, Clem thought behind an impassive expression. "Great," she said, allowing a smile. "So I go on talking trash, fighting against the odds, and often as not, getting my ass kicked?"

Hunter nodded. "That's exactly what you do." In that moment, he thought back to the fact that the NXT creative team had managed to keep their Women's Championship away from their hottest talent for an entire year, even despite his encouragement to the contrary, but what a payoff it had been when Clem finally had won it. That was the potential she had to draw serious money and ratings.

"And what about mom?" Clem asked next. It was hardly likely to be an accident that Lucy and Clementine Rollins were going to be on the same brand, and it could certainly not be ignored by creative.

"That's why I told you I wanted you to keep this to yourself. Nothing has been said by the company about this, but Paige took a knock on a house show a few nights back. She's got strained knee ligaments in her left knee."

"Oh, shoot," Clem sighed, immediately realising that news spelled trouble for the ongoing angle between Elena D'Agostino's 'La Famiglia' team and the all-English team of Lucy Rollins, Paige and Rieke. Already seeing where she was going to come in, Clem thought it lucky that nothing had been made of the fact that those three ladies were all English for the angle, since she would obviously have not fitted that bill. "How bad is the injury?" she asked.

"Four to six weeks. But that puts her out of the Rumble PPV, where the three on three match is going to happen."

Clem nodded, glad that the news wasn't as bad as it might have been for Paige. At least she would be back in plenty of time for Wrestlemania. "So Paige is out, and I'm in?" she asked, although it was more of a statement at this point.

"Correct. We're going to set it up on Raw this coming week, when you debut."

"Woah. No one is going to see that coming," Clem breathed, happy about the fact. Surprises were good things in wrestling, in her opinion. There had not even been a hint of a call up happening on NXT, and Hunter had said that even Paige's injury was being kept quiet. Then it hit her. "You're not going to tell my mom I'm going to be there, are you?"

Hunter smiled broadly, proud of himself. "No. And neither are you. We're going to get her genuine reaction when she hears your music hit."

Well, shit, Clem thought. That was one way to spring a surprise. She figured she must have looked a little taken aback, for Hunter apparently felt the need to go on.

"We'll go over the finer points with you when you arrive Monday. I'll have some travel sent to you, we'll make sure you're in a separate hotel to everyone else, and we'll have a car bring you to the arena. Bayley and I will meet you there and sort out somewhere for you to change and stuff."

"Wait, Bayley knows about this?" Clem asked, nearly coming out of her seat. How had her close friend and trainer said nothing?

"As of about two minutes before you walked in here she does, yeah."

Ah, there was the explanation, Clem thought. She could only imagine Bayley's exciteable reaction to the news. "At least there's one person I can talk to about it," she said.

"Yep. But no one else. I have to be perfectly clear on that."

"Message received," she assured him.

With a smile, Hunter picked up a very expensive looking silver pen from his desk. "Then I guess it's time to sign." He handled his part first, signing in the space at the bottom right of the front page of the contract. With that done, he turned the contract around to face Clem and offered her the pen.

As she took the pen, she had to take a second to admire it. It was one of those things that didn't look ostentatious, yet you could tell it was worth a fortune. "Nice pen," she opined.

"Vince gave it to me when he retired," Hunter revealed.

Clem looked at him questioningly. "Vince gave you a gift when he retired? I would have thought it would be the other way around."

"I did give him something, of course, but he gave me the pen in return. Want to guess what he said when he handed it to me?"

"I have no idea," she said with mirth in her smile.

Hunter did his best to impersonate Vince's voice. "Don't do anything stupid with it."

Clem laughed. "Well, let's hope this doesn't come into that category." With that, she quickly scrawled her signature in the correct place on the bottom left of the contract's front page. Just like that, she was a Raw wrestler. Only then did she consider that she should probably have read the contract first.

"Uh, you should have read it first," Hunter pointed out, within a half-second of her having the thought herself.

"Bit late now, ain't it?" Clem asked, momentarilly lapsing into the sarcasm more commonly found in her on-screen character.

Hunter took it in his stride with a good-natured smile. "No. It's not official until I file it. Go ahead and read it. I'm sure you'll be happy, but I do have to insist you read it."

Figuring that made sense, Clem started reading through all of the terms and conditions. Bollocks, as her mom would call it. Then she reached the part that said that all of her travel costs would be covered by the company - something that she knew wasn't offered to everyone on the roster, and certainly not to many of her age and experience. The contract then went on to specify what her salary would be, not including bonuses, which would also be added under certain conditions.

"Half a million dollars?" she asked, feeling faint for a moment as she looked up at the boss.

"Plus bonuses. That's what I think you're worth to us right now. It's a fair offer," he added, making her wonder if he thought she was thinking that he wasn't offering enough. What planet was this, that she was apparently now living on?

"It is," she said, forcing the words out. "I'm very happy with it, Mr Helmsley. Thank you."

"Excellent. Then I think we're all finished, since we don't have to take any publicity shots or anything like that. Anything you'd like to ask?"

"No, thank you." Clem said, still finding it all surreal.

"Thanks for coming in. We'll be in touch about Monday night. And remember..."

"Not a word to anyone," she promised him.

Before she knew it, they had shaken hands and she was walking out of the office. She didn't know whether to dance her way along the hallway past the other executive offices, or run to the nearest bathroom and throw up. She decided on a middle ground: taking a minute to compose herself before she summoned an elevator. At least there was no one else there waiting.

"Half a million fucking dollars," she mumbled to herself. And she couldn't even tell her parents about it. She took a deep breath and held it in for a moment.

"It works better if you press the button," a male voice said cheerfully.

She had no clue who the guys was; plainly an office worker of some kind. He pressed the button to call the elevator.

"Ah, that's where I was going wrong," Clem said with a vague grin. She rode down in the elevator with the guy, but she had clean forgotten her was there within seconds. All she could think about was how much her life had just been changed. She had to talk to someone. Thanks to Hunter's strict condition, there was only one option available. On the way out to her car, she turned her phone back on, then called Bayley's number. The call was quickly answered.

"Clem! Oh my God, I'm so happy for you!" Bayley squealed, sounding a lot like a proud mother herself.

"I don't know what to say, Bay. I'm going to be on Raw this Monday, and I just signed a contract for half a million dollars a year. Hunter offered me half a million freaking dollars!"

"I should think he did, girl. You're worth it. What do we always say?" Bayley prompted.

"Onwards and upwards," Clem said immediately. It was probably the thousandth time they had exchanged those words in one direction or the other. Boy, were they appropriate now.


	4. Chapter 4

This was probably the only time Clementine was going to get to arrive at an arena for Raw a couple of hours later than everyone else, she thought as she got out of the car that WWE had sent to pick her up from her hotel. What a strange sight it was to find no one else in the parking garage - usually a hive of activity when she arrived for a show. No one apart from her welcoming committee, anyway. Bayley was standing there looking like a ten year old kid on Christmas morning.

"Clem!" she squeaked excitedly. "I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to tonight."

"About as much as I have, by the look of it," Clem said with a grin as they exchanged one of Bayley's customary hugs.

"Hunter was going to come meet you too, but he's really busy."

Clementine shrugged. "I don't need the red carpet rolling out for me. I know I've got to change somewhere away from the others so mom doesn't know I'm here."

"Yes, let me show you the way. We found an empty office for you to use. There are good blinds on the windows so no one will be able to see you changing. Obviously you can shower with everyone else after the show; the surprise will have happened by then."

The driver had fetched Clem's case out of the car. Thanking him, she took the handle and accompanied Bayley into the building. As they walked, she said, "It wasn't until later in the day I went to the office that I realised this secrecy idea sucks. I mean, I get it from Mr Helmsley's point of view, but it means I couldn't tell my dad about it, so he's not here. He's not going to be happy about that."

"I've known Seth for a very long time, Clem. There's no chance he's not going to be happy that you've made the main roster."

"That's not what I said, though. I said he's not going to be happy that he's not here, and I'm not happy about it either. It should have been a family moment."

Although she was full of sympathy, Bayley knew she would serve Clem better by acting as her mentor, not a sympathetic friend. "There will be a lot of bigger disappointments than this in your career. I know you would have liked to have Seth here, but it wasn't to be. We should be focusing on what an amazing night it's going to be, not how it could have been even better."

Clementine forced herself to take a moment and digest that. As was often the case, her trainer was giving good advice, she had to admit. When all was said and done, tonight was the biggest of her career, maybe her life. She ought to be enjoying it, not griping about things. "Okay, you're right," she said, brightening up.

"This way," Bayley said, turning left into another hallway.

Clem noticed that there was none of the usual clutter associated with the production of a WWE event in the area of the building they were now in. It was actually kind of creepy. "It looks something out of a horror movie back here," she chuckled.

Bayley laughed as they rounded another corner. There was a man standing there right in front of them. Both women screamed in surprise. Luckily for them, the man was as surprised as they were. "Jesus Christ, you scared the life out of me," Logan McMahon said, blowing out a deep breath. "What are you ladies doing back here?"

"What are we doing back here?" Bayley asked, eyebrows raised. "We're keeping Clementine being here a secret. Or, we're supposed to be. What are you doing back here?"

Logan held up his cell phone. "Making a private call. I was just on my way back to the locker room, before you gave me a heart attack." Only then did he seem to fully process the fact that Clementine was there, despite being on the NXT roster. "Wait, you're on Raw tonight?"

Thanks to the way they had bumped into each other, the usual conversational pleasantries had been bypassed. One thing Clem had been taught by her birth parents was the importance of manners and politeness in everyday life. "We've not met. Clementine Rollins," she offered, holding out her hand.

"Sorry, where are my manners?" Logan said, accepting the handshake. "Logan McMahon."

They both knew who the other was, of course. Even if that hadn't been the case, Clem could have made Logan as a McMahon from the other side of a room. He looked exactly like his father, Shane. Talk about dominant genes, she thought. For reasons that she wasn't privy to, Logan chosen to drop his surname for his on-screen character, and had instead opted for Trey Logan. "Nice to meet you," she replied. "And yeah, I'm on Raw tonight. But no one is supposed to know apart from Bayley and Mr Helmsley."

"So keep it that way, please," Bayley put in.

Logan nodded his compliance. "The secret's safe with me. You do know there are no locker rooms back here, right?"

"Yeah, we're having to use an office, before the show at least," Bayley explained. "In fact, we're just down there," she added, pointing to a door a little further along the hallway.

"Why don't I fetch you guys a coffee?" Logan suggested. "Let's call it my way of making up for scaring you."

"I'd like a coffee, thank you," Clem said warmly.

"Me too, thanks," Bayley added.

"Coming up," Logan said, making his way past them to head for the populated backstage area.

"Bay, he scared me half to death," Clem said when the coast was clear.

Bayley smiled as they made their way into the office that was now a makeshift locker room. "It was your fault, talking about horror movies."

"Fair point," Clem conceded. She saw that the only furniture in the office space was a pair of steel chairs that Bayley had presumably brought in. Luxurious conditions, these were not, but she had experienced worse at some of the small shows DDP had booked her on when she had been approaching the completion of her training.

Her thoughts turned to the show. She knew she was going to debut, but that was all. She had imagined Mr Helmsley was going to enlighten her when she arrived, however it hadn't played out that way. "What's the plan for my debut?" she asked, hopeful that her trainer might have been clued in already.

"I don't know," Bayley had to admit. She sat down on the other chair. "Hunter said he would come see you as soon as he can, so I'm sure we'll find out then."

Clem wasn't about to start getting changed when she knew Logan McMahon would be coming back shortly with the coffee he had promised to deliver, so she sat down on one of the steel chairs. Ever since the morning she had signed her new contract, the same thought had been on her mind. "It's going to be wild walking out to the ring with my mom there, when she didn't know anything about it. I don't know how she's going to stay in character. I don't know how I will, come to that. I've dreamed about sharing a ring with her for so many years. I was always afraid she might retire before I got the chance."

"I can't imagine Lucy ever considered that for a moment. For every moment you thought about sharing a ring with her, she must have thought the same thing about you. I bet Seth has too, for that matter."

"You're probably right," Clem conceded. "I feel bad for Paige getting injured, but it really couldn't have presented a better opportunity to work with mom in my first angle. It honestly is a dream come true. I'm sorry for sounding like I was complaining earlier. There's just so much going on in my head right now." She took her baseball cap off and ran a hand through her hair.

For Bayley, the gesture told her as much as the words. Unsurprisingly, especially for someone aged only twenty one, the prospect of the Raw debut was getting to Clem a bit. It was an impossible situation in which to be relaxed, but Bayley had to try and encourage exactly that nonetheless. "Take a breath, Clem," she encouraged, putting a hand on her student's knee. "There's no hiding from the fact that this is a huge night, but you've got this. You're ready for it. I know it, and so do you, okay?"

Clem nodded slowly a few times, drawing confidence, as ever, from Bayley. One day, somehow, she hoped to find a way to repay her trainer for everything she had done to help her. "You're right, I've got it."

There was a loud knock on the door. "That'll be Logan," Bayley said, getting up to open the door.

Clem saw that, sure enough, her newest acquaintance had arrived with the coffee. She couldn't help thinking that there was something she liked about the guy. What a strange thought to have about a McMahon. "Thanks," she said when he offered her one of the plastic coffee cups.

"I brought some packets of sugar, since I don't know how you like it."

"No sugar. Just strong coffee," Clem smiled up at him.

"My kind of girl," he smiled back.

His eyes only lingered on hers for a fraction of a second longer than they needed to, but Clem noticed it. She could tell when a guy liked what he saw.

Stop it, she told herself. She wasn't about to start flirting with an older man, on this night of all nights. In any event, Bayley was quickly in there making conversation. The three of them talked for a while, until another knock came on the door. There was only one other person who knew Clem was back there. It had to be Hunter.

As there were only two chairs in the room, Logan had been standing with his back against the wall near the door. He opened it up and said, "Hi, Hunter."

"What are you doing in here?" Hunter demanded quickly as he entered the room. "No one is supposed to know Clem's here."

"Yeah, I know. But I happened to almost literally bump into them when they came in the building. Don't worry, I've said nothing to anyone else."

"Good. Keep it that way, will you?" His tone made it clear that the request was also a dismissal from the room.

Watching the exchange, Clem was slightly amused by Mr Helmsley's devotion to his creative vision of the upcoming debut being a surprise to everyone. He was close to obsessing over it. But then, she supposed, if she was running a company the size of WWE, she would likely become obsessive.

"Talk to you later, Clementine?" Logan suggested, looking back at her as he left the room. There was something of mischief in the look on his face.

"Yeah," she replied simply, giving him a little wave.

Hunter closed the door, shaking his head a little. He chose not to make comment on what he had just witnessed, and got down to business. "Everything's set, Clem. Elena and her team have just been told that you're going to come out later, but as you know, your mom has not. As far as she knows, Paige isn't here because of her injury, and Rieke is going to be taken out in a backstage segment earlier in the night. Lucy thinks she's going out there to take a three on one beat down. But of course we know different."

"Okay," Clem nodded, liking it so far. "So Daga is going to cue my entrance, then?" She had referred to Elena D'Agostino by her nickname, as did almost everyone else.

"Yes, exactly. When she sets her three underlings on Lucy, your music is going to hit before anything gets physical. They'll sell being shocked and back off, while you hurry down to the ring."

Clem listened attentively while he went on to lay out what he required from her. It was going to be a relatively simple first segment for her. She was pleased. Easing herself into being a main roster performer sounded good.

"Everything clear?" Hunter asked when he was done.

"Yep. No problems here, Mr Helmsley."

Hunter didn't react to being referred to that way. He was as used to it by now as Clem was to saying it. "Good. Someone will come get you as soon as Lucy goes out to the ring."

They said their goodbyes, then, once the boss was gone, Clem turned back to Bayley. "It's simple, but I like it."

"Yeah. It seems the entire point of the segment is to reveal that you've been called up. It wouldn't surprise me if they left it a week or two until you have a match."

Match or no match, Clementine hoped her family and friends would be watching Raw. She wanted them to see her big moment live, if possible. Seth would almost certainly watch, as would Uncle Dean and Aunt Alexa. Clem very much looked forward to chatting to them after the show.

"Better get changed," Bayley suggested. "The time will fly by. You'll be out there before you know it."

Clem's eyes gleamed. "I can't wait."


	5. Chapter 5

When the expected knock on the office door came, Clementine felt her stomach knotting up. The moment was at hand. She was about to debut on Monday Night Raw, in front of maybe twelve thousand people in the arena, and literally millions watching the show at home. "How do you ever get used to this?" she asked Bayley.

"Yep, the same way you did on NXT. You go from being nervous about it to loving it. You've done it all before, just on a bit of a smaller scale."

"Done it all before," Clem repeated under her breath, thinking back to some of the amazing reactions she had gotten from crowds in NXT arenas, most recently only a matter of days ago, such was the hurried nature of her call up. She summoned the strength of character that, unbeknownst to her, both Bayley and Hunter considered to be one of her strongest points, and got up off her steel chair. "Then let's go do it," she said with determination.

"Enjoy it. You deserve this moment," Bayley said, offering and receiving a quick hug.

Clementine made for the door, realising that Bayley wasn't going to follow. As always, Clem was thankful to her. She had the walk to Gorilla to compose herself and run through the short promo she had to deliver in her head.

"Lucy has gone out to the ring," the male crew member who had knocked the door said when Clem opened it and walked out into the hallway.

Nodding to acknowledge him, Clem tried to picture her mom's face in just a couple of minutes when a piece of very familiar, yet totally unexpected rock music hit and the fans went wild. The debut was going to be a hugely emotional occasion for the whole Rollins family. Never had two parents been more proud of their daughter, Clem didn't doubt that for a minute. If only Seth could have been there in person, she thought sadly. Missing out on that was quite a price to pay for Hunter's desired shot of Lucy's reaction.

"Focus," Clem told herself. She was approaching the Gorilla postion. Out in the arena, she could hear the theme music for the La Famiglia faction playing. They had just interrupted Lucy's promo, as far as she knew, to deliver a beat down to her.

While she waited for her cue, Clementine focused her attention on what was happening in the arena, rather than the crew members around her. Over the top of some mild booing, Elena had started giving her promo, talking about how her team had taken out Paige at a live event the previous week.

"And earlier tonight," the Italian went on in her 'Bond villain' accent, "we disposed of Rieke; not such a wolf after all, it seems. More like a pathetic little cat. And now, Lucy Rollins, after destroying two of the three members of your little alliance, we've come to take what's left."

Clem found herself noticing how the Italian accent made the final word sound more like lefta than left. Ridiculing that would get a cheer from the fans, albeit not as big as the one that was coming in just a few seconds.

"Bring it on," Lucy said defiantly.

Knowing that her music would hit in a matter of seconds, Clem closed her eyes, hoping her birth parents were watching. She was sure that they were.

From the arena, there came the distinctive sound of a microphone dropping, as the noise from the fans increased slightly. They knew Lucy Rollins would not go down without a hell of a fight. Five seconds went by, seeming to last like minutes to Clem. Then her music hit.

She was blown away by the eruption of noise she heard from the fans, but there was no time to dwell on that. Her character was going out there to save her mom from a beating, so she wouldn't fuck around taking ages to get to the ring. She charged through the curtain and out onto the stage, seeing almost everyone in the crowd on their feet, losing their shit. It was sight she would never forget as long as she lived.

As she quickly made her way down the entrance ramp, feeling her arms covered in goosebumps, she took off her baseball cap and launched it into the crowd off to her right. A very precious souvenir for someone.

Approaching the ring, she saw her mom standing in a corner on the opposite side, a leather gloved hand over her mouth to try and disguise how emotional she was. She certainly wasn't fooling Clem, and if the cameras were on her, she probably wouldn't be fooling the audience either. Meanwhile, Elena had backed her three underlings off and into an opposite corner of the ring. They, of course, had known all along that there would be no physicality in the segment.

Clem's entrance routine was to walk around the ring to the far side and climb the ring steps in the corner closest to the timekeeper's position. She would then climb onto the middle rope in that corner to pose for the fans. On this occasion, as she climbed the steps, she could hear the commentators freaking out at their nearby table. She was sure that Corey Graves, The Miz and Renee Young were doing a good job of putting over her shocking arrival on Raw.

As she climbed up onto the middle rope, Clem was struck by two things. Firstly, she could hardly hear her music over the roar of the crowd, and secondly, Hunter had apparently had a new entrance video package made for her. She had certainly never seen the one that was playing on the huge screen above the stage before.

Her trademark pose was forming a diamond shape with her hands, as her trainer DDP had done many years before her. As she struck the pose, she was struck by how many camera flashes were going off. She had never experienced anything like it before. With the pose done, she snapped her head back around to face the ring. Her mom was just walking over towards her, as if taking refuge in the safe corner. To that extent at least, she was managing to stay in character. She must have figured out by now that there was going to be no fighting, since Elena and her team had bailed from the ring and were watching on from the bottom of the entrance ramp.

Looking down at her mom, Clem could see her eyes were damp with tears, and she had an expression that fitted in somewhere between pride and shock on her face.

Clem's music faded out halfway through a guitar solo, to another loud cheer from the fans. The ring announcer climbed the steps and handed her a microphone, but she had to wait for the reception to die down before she could consider using it to give her promo. She stood there alternating her gaze between Lucy and the would-be attackers who had now retreated. When the cheering began to fade, the crowd were not content to leave it at that, launching right into a chant of, "This is awesome!" The goosebumps on Clem's arms were back.

Outside the ring, Elena sold her anger at the intrusion, freaking out at the other three women standing with her. Clem looked at them, thinking that they made a strange looking crew. Next to Elena was Amy Morgan, the stunningly attractive blonde former lingerie model. Next to her was Mackenzie Sawyer, who competed under the ring name Andromeda. She was wearing her long brown hair in a ponytail that reached almost down to her butt. Finally, looking the angriest of all, was the muscle of the team, Jackie Cassidy. Standing all of six feet three inches tall, she was easily the most imposing woman currently employed by WWE.

Clem, of course, would not show even the slightest hint of being intimidated by any of them. Finally permitted the chance to say something, she looked at Lucy again and asked, "Need a bit of help?"

The fans went insane again, while Lucy nodded her acceptance of the help that was on offer, from her daughter of all people.

"Then it's probably a good time for me to announce that Raw have made a new signing. And that new signing would be me, Clementine Rollins!"

There was another roar from the crowd, while Elena looked like she was shaking with anger outside the ring. Her underlings didn't exactly look pleased about the turn of events, either.

"So, Elena, if you want to get back in the ring and try to take what's lefta," Clem said, mocking the Italian's accent, "You can be my guest, because my mom and I will be happy to kick all four of your asses, and not break a sweat in the process."

Elena freaked out at the crowd for cheering their agreement with that pronouncement, then she seemed to remember that she was still holding a microphone herself. "Don't you realise whose ring that is?" she demanded of Clementine.

The response to that question came to Clem in heartbeat, although it hadn't been scripted in advance. She climbed up to the top rope, then dropped down into the ring beside Lucy. It was the setup to deliver some of the sarcasm that was one of the best-loved trademarks of her character. "It's pretty obvious now, ain't it?" she asked.

Loving every second of it, the crowd went off again.

"Clementine, you just made a big mistake," Elena assured her with a nasty glare, before turning to lead her team to the back.

This was the moment for Clem to deliver the closing line of the promo, shouting after La Famiglia, "The only mistake is going to be made when you get in the ring at the Royal Rumble, because whether it's Paige, Rieke, Lucy Rollins, or Clementine Rollins, one of us is going to kick your ass all the way back to Italy." She finished with her catchphrase, which the crowd echoed as she said it. "And that's all I've got to say about that!"

Clem's music hit again as the crowd cheered once more. She dropped her microphone, climbed back through the ropes and back up onto the middle one in the corner to give her signature pose. Up on the stage, Elena and her crew were still doing a good job of selling their displeasure at the way the situation had developed.

Then, abruptly, all of the lights above the ring turned off as Raw went to commercial. The segment was over. Clem climbed down off the ropes and dropped to the floor. Her mom was only a matter of seconds behind her. Now that they were not on screen, they were safe to talk out of character.

"Clem! Oh my God!" Lucy exclaimed, grabbing her in a hug. "I can't believe you're here! I can't believe you kept it a secret!" she added, feigning anger.

"Sorry, mom. Mr Helmsley insisted," Clem said. Then they pulled apart, knowing that they had to be fairly quick about getting to the back. They fell in step beside each other as they made their way around the ring. The fans in the first few rows were cheering and shouting to Clem, but her attention was entirely on Lucy. "I wanted to tell you so bad, and I wanted to tell dad too. I really wish I could have, so that he could have been here."

"I'm sure he's watching, sweet pea," Lucy said. Her nickname for Clem had never changed, and neither of them had ever wanted it to. "Damn it, I was crying when you came walking down here," she added.

"I know," Clem said, feeling a lump in her throat. "I think that's what Mr Helmsley was going for. I still can't believe all of this is real. I'm actually on the main roster, and I'm working an angle with you. I've dreamed about this for years."

Lucy lead the way down the side of the entrance ramp, knowing that was the route they were expected to use to get backstage. "I know you have. I have too, Clem. You're taking Paige's place, is that the deal?"

"Yeah. I think they're going to have Nikki make it official either later tonight or next week."

Nikki Bella, long retired from in ring completion, was currently performing in the role of Raw's General Manager. As part of the La Famiglia angle, there was some doubt being cast as to whether Nikki was in Elena's pocket. Adding Clementine Rollins to a match against her team would go a long way to dispelling that theory.

"Wait until I find Hunter," Lucy was saying. "I'm going to strangle the bastard for setting me up like that."

Clem laughed. "Don't do that. You'd get fired before we got the chance to work together."

Lucy pushed open the curtain that lead to the backstage area and they both walked through. Then they froze. Hunter was standing there, with someone else next to him. Both of the men were applauding.

"Dad!" Clementine shrieked, running into Seth's arms.

"Hey, Clem," Seth choked out. "You didn't think I was going to miss your big day, did you?"

"Well, yeah," Clem replied, tears already flowing. "I thought you didn't know about it."

"I took care of that for you," Hunter said deviously. "Let's say I'm a man who likes surprises."

"Well I say the Rollins family ought to team up right now and kill you," Lucy said, only half joking.

"Probably not the best career move," Hunter chuckled.

Seth was ignoring the banter as he held his daughter in his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. Many times since they had adopted her, he had felt like he could never feel more proud of her. This moment was topping it all, by a large margin. He was not a man who cried often by any means, but he felt a tear making its way down his cheek now. "I'm so proud of you, Clem," he said, wishing there was some way to make clear just how much he meant it.

"Thanks, dad." It was all she could manage. She had to pull away from him so that she could wipe her own eyes. Looking up at him, she saw him doing the same. So many emotions were hitting her all at once. Seeing her mom and dad moved to tears by her debut was added to the list of things she would never forget about this night. The incredible reaction she had received from the crowd in the arena was also only just hitting her, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Even with all that going on, she still remembered her manners. Mr Helmsley was the one who had made all of this happen. Turning to him, she gave what she hoped came across as a grateful smile. "Thank you so much, Mr Helmsley. This all means so much to me. I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. Just keep hold of the ball and run with it," Hunter said kindly. "Now what do you say we get a picture? I feel like this is a moment that should be captured."

"Absolutely," Lucy agreed.

Hunter already had a photographer on hand for the purpose. Seth and Lucy took up positions either side of Clementine, each putting their arms around her waist. The photographer took that picture, then Hunter joined them, standing next to Seth. When that picture had been snapped, Clem said, "How about one with me and you, Mr Helmsley?"

"Why not?" Hunter agreed cheerfully. Standing close together, they pose by forming one half of her signature diamond shape each. Clem could imagine the WWE social media team uploading it with a caption along the lines of 'The Diamond in the Rough has arrived on Raw.'

The pictures were now done. "I'll leave you to it," Hunter said, wanting to give the Rollins family their moment together.

Clementine turned around to face her parents, only to find another person now standing with them.

"You smashed it, Clem," Bayley said proudly, stepping forward and spreading her arms wide.

"Thanks, Bay," Clem said, choking up again. As they embraced each other, Raw's newest roster member found herself reflecting on how much work both she and Bayley had put in to get her to this point. Bayley was owed a debt that could possibly never be repaid. "One day, somehow, I'm going to find a way to thank you properly for everything," she promised.

"If you want to do that, just promise me you'll keep pushing yourself to be better every single time you go out there, and you'll do your best to make those fans feel the way you used to feel when you were one of them."

"I promise," Clem said sincerely.

Bayley squeezed her tightly for a second to seal the deal, then let her go and stepped back. "I moved your stuff into the locker room with the rest of the girls," she said next.

"Thanks, Bay." This time it was Lucy who had said it. As a group, they all started walking slowly in the direction of the locker rooms. "I guess I just found myself a new travel partner," she said, smiling broadly at Clem.

Her daughter's eyes lit up. "I hadn't even thought about that. This is all going to be so much fun!"

Seth stepped in between his two women and put his arms around their shoulders. "The world's not going to know what hit it."


	6. Chapter 6

Following Lucy and Bayley into the women's locker room, Clementine was glad that she knew most of the women in there from her time on NXT. In addition to that, Nikki Bella was there, who she had known for many years thanks to her frequent visits backstage after being adopted by Lucy and Seth. It was Nikki who stepped forward to greet her first. As ever, Clem was envious of how stunningly beautiful she was. No one would guess she was in her forties, that was for sure. To Clem, she looked ten years younger. The perfect makeup and insanely expensive dresses she wore every week probably helped somewhat with that.

"Clem! I had no idea you were going to be here tonight!" Nikki exclaimed, giving the younger woman a peck on the cheek in greeting.

"Neither did many other people," Clem revealed with a smile.

"Including me," Lucy put in on her way past, heading for her locker.

"Really?" Nikki asked, stretching the word out in surprise.

"Mr Helmsley wanted it that way," Clem said.

Nikki laughed. "Now that doesn't surprise me."

"At least he flew my dad in," Clem said happily. "I really thought he was going to miss out. I guess I should have known better, though. Mr Helmsley knows how much this means to all of us."

"Seth's here?" Nikki asked. "I have to make sure I catch up with him."

"He's gone to hang out with the guys while we get our shit sorted out," Lucy said from over in the corner of the room.

Elena D'Agostino walked over next. Having been called up to the main roster at about the same time Clementine had been getting started in NXT, the two women barely knew each other. "Hello, Clementine. I'm looking forward to working with you," the Italian said pleasantly.

It amused Clem that her real accent was not all that different to the one she used on-screen. There was still a very strong Italian edge to it. "Hey, Elena. I'm looking forward to it, too. It should be quite the rivalry, if they do a good job of writing it."

"Call me Daga, please. My mom is the only one who call me Elena, when she's mad with me."

Clem grinned. "Okay, Daga it is. I hope you didn't mind me mocking your accent out there?"

"No. It got the fans to cheer for you," Elena said simply. Then she gestured to her teammates. "I think you know these guys, yes?" she asked, with the word selection of a non-native English speaker.

"Yep," Clem said, smiling at Jackie Cassidy, Mackenzie Sawyer and Amy Morgan. They all passed on their greetings, then Clem said, "It's a shame Paige got injured, but I can't wait to work with you guys. This storyline is going to be a lot of fun."

"Yeah, it is," Mackenzie said. "We're hoping they take it all the way to Wrestlemania."

"There's no reason why they can't," Amy added. "Paige is out of the match at the Rumble, and Daga is managing us. It seems pretty obvious to book a four on four at 'Mania, once Paige is back."

"That would be awesome," Clem said excitedly. If there was one criticism she had of the La Famiglia idea it was that Elena spent too much time out of the ring, since her mob boss character most often delegated the violence to the other three. Daga was a very good heel wrestler, and in Clem's opinion should be used a lot more in that role.

"We'll let you get changed," Elena said.

"Thanks, guys. Nice to see you all." With that, Clem walked over to where Bayley had put her things, at the locker next to her mom's.

On the other side of Lucy was the other English woman in the room, Selena Robbins, who played the Rieke character. She had also previously been a colleague of Clem's in NXT. Indeed, they had been booked in quite a successful rivalry for a time.

"Clem. Great to see they've called you up at last. I wondered what they were waiting on," Selena said in a friendly manner.

"The right time, apparently," Clem said with a smile. "It's great to be here, and to be on a team with you. It'll make a change from beating each other's asses every night like we were last year."

"Yeah. I think turning me face took care of that," Selena said with a grin.

Lucy had already taken off her ring gear, so Clem thought it best to start following her example. After all, Seth was waiting for them so that they could spend some time together. Showering could wait until they were back at the hotel, since neither of them had had to break a sweat in the ring, thanks to there being no physical action in the segment.

While she was changing, Clem looked around the locker room. There were only two women she hadn't spoken to. One was Sonya Deville, one of the veterans on the Raw roster and also the current Raw Women's Champion. The other was Little Kuma, the Japanese girl who was one of Clem's favourites to watch. Little was certainly an apt way to describe her. Incredibly cute was the way Clem would personally have summed up her appearance, which made the fact that she was currently playing a very good heel role all the more impressive. She had the character of an obsessive fangirl who had been stalking Sonya, and was now challenging her for her title at the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Bayley had gone over to those two ladies while Clem had been talking with her new opponents, but she was now standing with Elena. To her surprise, Clem found herself thinking that if she didn't know better, she would have thought they were flirting with each other. As far as she knew, Bayley wasn't even into women. But then, she realised that, oddly, Bayley had never mentioned anything about her tastes in any of their conversations.

"Mom, Bayley and Daga look like they get along well," Clem said.

"Shush," Selena said. "There are enough rumours already."

"There are?" Clem asked, raising her eyebrows.

"In our locker room, yeah," Lucy said, reminding herself that Clem was in there for the first time. Apparently the speculation hadn't made it down to NXT. "People are saying Daga and Bayley are dating. Looking at them now, I'd put money on it."

"Well, sh… shoot," Clem said, hurriedly correcting herself before she swore in front of her mom.

"Enough gossiping, more changing," Lucy encouraged. "We've got to go and find Seth, preferably before he settles into the guy's locker room. If that happens, we might be here all night waiting for him to finish talking bollocks."

As it turned out, Clem found herself ready to leave before Lucy, a few minutes later. Her mom was ironically busy chatting away to Selena, talking about how Clem could travel with them now she was on the main roster. Clem found it adorable that her mom was as happy about it as she was, but the irony of the previous 'talking bollocks' accusation was still amusing.

Gladly, Clem put on one of the spare white and dark blue baseball caps that she always had in her case. She was lucky that since she had made launching the one she had on into the crowd a part of her entrance, WWE threw the things at her like there was no tomorrow. The fans were on the bandwagon, since the caps were her highest-selling merchandise item on WWE Shop. As ever, she felt much more comfortable now that she was wearing one.

While she waited for Lucy, she decided to check her phone, figuring that there would be messages from friends and family who had been watching Raw. Sure enough, among the messages from friends, there were some from people she classed as family. She opened the first one.

_Uncle Dean: Nice job, kid._

Getting a message from Dean at all said a lot, since he was the biggest technophobe in the known world. And the words he had sent, though they might have seemed weak from anyone else, meant a lot to her coming from him. She moved on to the next message.

_Uncle Roman: Congrats, Clem. Great to see your hard work paying off. You deserve to be on the main roster, now show them what they've been missing. We'll see you soon._

"Bless him," she said under her breath, looking forward to the next time she got to see Roman, his wife, and their two daughters. She opened the next message.

_Aunt Alexa: My goosebumps have goosebumps! I've almost finished crying now. So proud of you, Clem. I know how hard you've worked and how much this means to you. Love you!"_

Clem bit her bottom lip as she felt her eyes tearing up. After Lucy and Seth, Alexa was the person she was closest to in the world. It was a shame they didn't get to see each other much these days, but Alexa spent most of her time at home with Blake, her one year old who she had given birth to after finally convincing Dean that they should start a family before it was too late.

"Ready, Clem?" Lucy asked suddenly, startling her.

"Uh, yeah," she replied, stuffing her phone back in her pocket. She would have to do her replying to messages later, when she had a chance to properly concentrate on it.

Leaving their cases behind to collect when they were ready to leave the building, they walked out of the locker room to go and find Seth. It didn't prove to be a difficult task, since he was standing outside of the men's locker room talking to Samoa Joe, one of his good friends, and a road agent for WWE.

"We might be here a while," Clem said to Lucy before they got within earshot of her dad. "I think I'll go and grab a coffee. Do you want one?"

"No thanks, sweet pea. I'm sure we'll be here when you get back," she added. Mother and daughter grinned at each other as they parted ways.

"Hey, Uncle Joe," Clem said cheerfully on her way past the big man.

"Hey, Clem. Great job out there."

"Thank you," she called over her shoulder as she continued towards catering. She felt her phone vibrate again and took it out of her pocket. Another of her friends had sent a message of congratulation. While she read it, she walked through the door into the catering area. Not looking where she was going, she crashed right into someone else who was also busy with their phone. Her baseball cap was knocked off and it fell to the floor before she could catch it.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Logan McMahon said, quickly picking the cap up for her. "We've got to stop bumping into each other, Clementine. Especially when we're doing it literally."

"My fault," Clem apologised, glad that he had managed not to spill the cup of coffee that he was carrying over either of them. "I was too busy on my phone, not looking where I was going."

"Me too," Logan said, looking into her eyes.

"I'll, uh, take my cap," she prompted gently.

"Right, sorry," he said, handing it to her. "I was just thinking that you look hot without it."

Okay then, Clem thought. She could appreciate a man who said what he thought, but even so, that was quite forward. Still, he was quite an attractive guy, so she figured she would tease him a bit. She put her cap back on and pretended to sound disappointed. "But not so much with it on?"

"Still hot, but more nerdy looking," he said with a cheeky laugh.

Clem couldn't help bursting out laughing herself. There was something about his laugh that encouraged her to go along with it. "I'll take that as a compliment," she said, feigning indignation.

"You should," Logan said, totally serious. He held up his coffee. "I was going to take this back to the locker room, but we can grab a table if you want?"

Not that easy, Clem thought, trying not to smile. "Sorry, mom and dad are waiting for me. I said I'd be right back."

"Another time then," he said easily. He was hiding any disappointment he might have been feeling.

Clem nodded. "Yeah, another time."

As she stood there watching him walk away, she was surprised by the realisation that she actually meant it. She would like to sit down and get to know the guy a little better. She had the feeling that behind the smooth appearance common to all McMahon family members, and the wit that was maybe not quite as much of a family trait, there was an interesting story to be told. She looked forward to hearing it. Maybe he would like to hear her story, too.


	7. Chapter 7

A week into her new role as a main roster talent, Clementine was feeling more comfortable about things. As Bayley had been at pains to point out, it was pretty much the same as being on NXT, just with a higher profile and a bigger audience. Her first few house shows had certainly been a lot of fun, teaming up with her mom and her other traveling partner and new teammate Selena Robbins. The three ladies had had a lot of fun in the past seven days, and that had certainly helped Clem to settle into her new routine, and into the new locker room, with her new group of colleagues.

"It's crazy that it's been a week already," she said to Lucy. They had just sat down in the women's locker room, backstage before Raw.

"Tell me about it," Lucy said, shaking her head in disbelief. "It really has flown by, but that's what happens when you're enjoying yourself. It's just a shame Seth's not on the road with us."

"Yeah, that's probably never going to happen," Clem said sadly. At most, Seth only worked part time these days, usually only having matches at the biggest pay-per-view events of the year. With that in mind, there was at least a hope that he would be joining them soon. "Hopefully they'll get him in for the Rumble?" she speculated.

"I certainly hope so," Lucy agreed. "It doesn't say a lot about how much they want him if they can't come up with something for him for Wrestlemania season."

Selena was also sitting with them, and she joined the conversation for the first time. "Speaking of the Rumble, do you think we're going to be in the women's one?"

"Don't see how we can't be," Lucy said frankly. "It'll mean double duty for us, but they don't have the numbers to take six people out of the rumble match just because they already appeared on the show."

"That's what I was thinking," Selena said, nodding her agreement. "So, who's going to be the winner?"

"You're looking at her," Clem said with theatrical arrogance.

Joining in with the fun, Lucy feigned scorn. "Yeah, right. You only just showed up. They're going to give it to me to make sure they get another headline 'Mania match out of me before I go."

Thinking of her mom retiring killed any element of enjoyment Clem might have found in the conversation. Just having the idea enter her head was upsetting. "Don't say that, mom. You're not really thinking of retiring, are you?"

Lucy gave her a reassuring smile. "No, Clem, not now. I've probably got a year or two in me yet. I don't know about you, but I plan to make the most of them."

"Definitely," Clem promised her.

"You can't go anywhere until you've wrestled each other," Selena put in.

Clem looked at her new partner, surprised by the suggestion. She had only ever imagined teaming up with her mom, not taking her on in a rivalry. She wasn't sure how she felt about the idea.

"That would be awesome," Lucy said before Clem had much of a chance to think about it. "The storyline writes itself. Let's say Clem has the title. She retains it one night, I'm out there celebrating with her, then out of nowhere, boom!" She clapped her hands together loudly. "I punch her lights out, then spend five minutes beating the crap out of her."

"Damn," Clem breathed, imagining that going down. "And your reason would be what?"

"You showed up and took my spotlight," Lucy said, not needing to think about it.

Clem's heart sank in that moment. Was there really something in the back of her mom's mind telling her that was what was happening?

"Christ, Clem, I'm talking in-character here," Lucy said, seeing the expression that had appeared on her face. "You know I would never, ever feel resentful of any success you had. And if we did ever wrestle, for whatever creative reason, the outcome would be to put you over."

"I wouldn't want that," Clem said quickly. "I'd feel so bad to have you doing a job for me."

"Come on, you know how it works. It's up to the older hands to put over the up and coming talent. No one would gain anything if you were to put me over."

"Can we talk about something else?" Clem asked, feeling distinctly uncomfortable with the whole thing.

"Sure," Selena said. "We can talk about the idea of Seth, Lucy and Clementine Rollins all teaming up in a match. You're not going to tell me that's not going to be a thing at some point. I don't have to work in creative to know that's got money written all over it."

"Now that would be amazing," Clem said, smiling broadly. "The only problem being, there's no three people who could possibly beat us."

Lucy grinned. "True. It would be a real ass kicking for whoever the other team were."

While they had been chatting, someone had knocked on the locker room door. Sonya Deville had walked around the corner to answer it. She now walked back into the main part of the room and called out, "Clementine, you're up. Hunter wants to see you."

"In trouble already," Clem guessed in a weak attempt at humour as she got up.

"No, he'll just be wanting to make sure you're settling in okay," Lucy told her.

"No worries there then," Clem said cheerfully. Not wanting to keep the boss waiting, she made for the door. Just as she was about to get there, it opened and Nikki Bella walked in, pulling a travel case behind her.

"Oh, hey, Clem," she said with a polite smile.

"Hi, Nikki. How are you?" Clem stepped aside to let the older woman get past with her luggage.

"Really good, thanks. You?"

"Great," Clem replied. Once Nikki was past her, she walked out into the hallway. Whoever Hunter had sent with the summons had pulled a vanishing act, but luckily Clem could remember walking past his office on her way to the locker room. That saved having to wander around trying to find it.

She made her way along the hallway, past the men's babyface locker room, then the heel locker room. She was just approaching the bathrooms when Logan McMahon walked out into the hallway. He noticed her right away and smiled.

"Clementine. At least we didn't crash into each other this time."

"We could have. I was actually just on my way into the men's room," she quipped.

For a moment, she thought he was going to make a further joke based on her comment, but he seemed to think better of it. "Are you up for getting that coffee?" he asked instead, referring to the offer she had passed on the previous week by saying she was in a hurry to leave.

Clem was glad she had another excuse to give him. Although she did intend to sit down over a drink with him eventually, making him wait was fun. "Sorry, I'm on my way to Hunter's office. He wants to see me."

"Okay. Later?" he suggested.

"Later," she nodded, thinking that was noncommittal enough. She walked off before the conversation could go any further. As she did so, she could tell he was watching her. She was fairly confident her tight jeans were giving him a view he liked the look of. Having seen enough creepy posts on social media, she knew that her booty was much admired by certain demographics among WWE's audience. The least she could do was flaunt it a bit for her current audience of one.

She reached Hunter Helmsley's office a little further along the hallway without looking back. She knocked on the door, and was loudly invited to come in by the Chairman. Opening the door, she saw the boss sitting at his desk. He leaned back in his chair and said, "Ah, Clementine, good. Come in."

"You asked to see me, Mr Helmsley?" Clem asked as she walked over towards him. He gestured her to the cheap office chair in front of the desk and she sat down.

"First off, I wanted to check in with you and see how your first week on the main roster went?"

"Really well, thank you," she replied, being naturally well-mannered as ever. "Actually, it's been great fun. Traveling with Selena and my mom has been an absolute blast, and the house shows were awesome. I honestly couldn't be having more fun if I tried."

Hunter had to smile. Her positive attitude didn't surprise him, but it was still great to see. "That's good news. So there are no concerns or problems on your mind?"

"Absolutely not," she assured him.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it." He paused for a second, then moved the conversation on. "There are a few other things I need to go over with you."

"Okay," she said, wondering where this was going.

"As you know, Paige is going to be out for another month or so. We already have her booked for a couple of appearances that she's now obviously not going to make. I could have Lucy fill in, but I'd like you to do it."

"No problem. I'd love to," Clem said without needing to consider it. She always loved getting to interact with the fans. Even without Bayley often stressing the point, she loved to make fans feel the way people like Bayley herself and her idol Alexa Bliss had made her feel back when she was a ten year old, coming backstage at a WWE event for the first time. In that moment, she remembered that her first backstage visit had been at a Royal Rumble. Now she was soon going to have her first main roster match at that same event. Suddenly, it was all too much for her. Before she could try and control herself, she burst into tears.

"Clem?" Hunter asked in surprise, getting up out of his chair.

By now, Clem was sobbing, head buried in her hands. There had been so many extremes of emotion in her life, both heart-breaking sadness and jaw-dropping excitement. And through it all, she had arrived at a point where she could have a real, substantive impact on other people's lives. Eleven years ago, she had been star-struck kid in awe of meeting the wrestlers she saw on TV. Now people cheered for her and looked at her that exact same way. It was such a privilege for her. If she could use that privilege to help others who were suffering anything like the emotional distress she once had, she would do everything she could to make that happen.

"What's wrong?" Hunter asked with genuine compassion. He sat on the edge of his desk, leaned forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Clem felt so embarrassed at crying in front of him, but she couldn't help it. "I'm just so lucky to be here," she managed to say into her hands.

"I can't understand you," Hunter said gently. "Can you stop crying and talk to me? Come on, it's okay," he encouraged, squeezing her shoulder a little.

Closing her eyes tightly, she forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths and get her emotions under control.

"That's it," Hunter said, with the tenderness of a father of three daughters. "Now what's wrong?"

Sitting up properly, Clem removed her hands from her face, took off her baseball cap and dropped in on his desk. With that done, she could make a better job of wiping away her tears. "I said I'm just so lucky to be here, Mr Helmsley. I used to cheer for the wrestlers I saw on TV. The first time Lucy brought me backstage, it was the happiest night of my life. I was truly living the dream just by being able to meet them. Now people cheer for me, and I can make them feel that way. I just... can't tell you what that means to me," she floundered as words failed her.

Now that she had stopped crying, Hunter made his way back around his desk and sat back down. Trying to read his expression, Clem thought that he looked like he understood where she was coming from. He might have seen the same thing from other people in the past, she reasoned.

"This business gives us a lot of unique opportunities," he said, obviously choosing his words carefully. "What I find admirable is that you appreciate it for what it is. That's the kind of attitude I like to see. Make sure you keep thinking like that, because you have a very big future here, so long as you stay grounded."

"I will keep thinking like that," she promised. "I'm sorry for crying like that. I didn't even know it was coming. It just happened out of nowhere."

"You've had a lot thrown at you this past week," he said sympathetically. "From signing your new contract, to making your main roster debut, to teaming up with your mom. I can see why it's a lot to take in. Hopefully having a cry was the release of emotion you needed."

Clem nodded slightly. "Yeah, I think it was. I do feel better already. But I meant what I said; I really do want to do all I can for the fans. So, yeah, any appearances you want me to do, I'm there."

"Good," Hunter said with a satisfied smile. "Let me tell you a bit about what I've got lined up for you. The first appearance is this coming Wednesday. You'll be going to open a toy store for one of our biggest sponsors. There will be three hundred wristbands issued to fans who will attend the meet and greet after you open the store, and as part of the occasion, the toy company are going to be giving away one hundred and fifty figures of each of the two wrestlers we're sending. I can get in contact with them now and let them know it's going to be you and Rieke."

"Cool," Clem said with real enthusiasm. "When you say opening the store, you mean, like, it's their first day?"

"Exactly. Hence the giveaway they're doing, to raise the profile of the opening."

"Makes sense," Clem thought aloud.

"The second appearance, on Friday, is something a bit different. You'll be going with Mackenzie Sawyer to a charity food bank. You'll be serving free meals to people in need."

"Oh, wow," Clem breathed. "That sounds like a wonderful thing to be involved in. I'm looking forward to it already."

"That's good," Hunter said, clearly happy with her response. "We're looking to get involved in more of that kind of thing. As you know, charity is important to both Stephanie and myself."

"And to me," Clem said seriously, thinking she would have ended up at the mercy of others herself if Lucy and Seth hadn't been kind enough to take her in before she was sent into the fostering system.

"I'm glad to hear it, Clem. I'll send you details of both events tomorrow. So, before you go, you're sure you're okay with everything?"

"I am," she assured him. "Please don't read anything into me crying earlier. I really couldn't be happier than I am right now. I've wanted to do this for as long as I can remember, as you know."

Hunter nodded seriously. "Alright, you can go."

Clementine rose from her chair, but Hunter stopped her in her tracks.

"Oh! I almost forgot to say that I've appointed Joe to be your road agent. I know you get along well with him since he's friends with Seth, so I thought that would help ease you into things a bit more. He'll be wanting to see you soon to go over the plans for tonight's show."

"Got it," Clem said. If she could have picked her own agent, she would definitely have gone with Samoa Joe, or Uncle Joe as she called him, so she certainly wasn't going to complain. Telling herself that she had probably better drop the Uncle Joe stuff in front of her colleagues, as difficult as it would be after so many years, she made to leave. Again, Hunter stopped her, this time when she was half way to the door.

"Clem?"

"Yeah?" she asked, turning back to face him.

Hunter pointed to his desk. "Don't forget your cap."

"Right," Clem said, hurrying back over to pick it up. How she had managed to forget she had taken it off was beyond her, given how much she disliked not wearing one. She gladly put it back on as she made her way to the door.

"Oh," she said in surprise as she walked out into the hallway. Logan McMahon was leaning against the opposite wall, holding two cups of coffee.

"You said we could have a coffee later," he reminded her, his tone matter of fact as he held out one of the cups to her.

The fact that the guy plainly was not going to take no for an answer made Clem smile. It was something of a compliment that he was so persistent about simply getting to sit down over a cup of coffee with her. Deciding that she had made him wait long enough, she took the cup of coffee from him and said, "So I did."


	8. Chapter 8

"I certainly can't fault you for persistence," Clementine said as she took a seat at a table in the catering area. She kept the cup of coffee that she had finally accepted from Logan McMahon in her hand so that she could sip from it.

"It's one of my strengths," he replied simply, taking the seat opposite hers.

"So is being forward, apparently," she said, studying him for a reaction over the top of her cup as she drank from it.

Logan just shrugged. "You don't get anywhere in life by being a shrinking violet."

That's how you want to play it? Clem thought. Fine, two could play that game. If he wanted forward, forward he would get. "Okay then, Trey Logan, why don't you tell me why you dropped the name McMahon from your character?" she challenged.

Across the table, she saw Logan hesitate for a second, then nod his appreciation of the question, having figured out why she had fired at him. It looked like he appreciated the fact that she would go right back at him in the same manner he had approached her.

"Honest answer?" he asked, after taking a slow drink from his cup. She could see in his dark eyes that he was trying to buy himself some time to frame his response.

"Ain't much point in any other kind," Clem said, giving him a crooked grin.

"True," he admitted. "Okay then, I'll tell you. I don't get along with my old man, it's as simple as that."

By now, Clem was enjoying giving him some attitude, sensing that since he hadn't expected it, she had him metaphorically on the ropes. "Well, thanks. I think I have enough there to write a biography," she quipped. "Come on, Logan. You wanted to sit down with me so bad; now you're not going to talk? A girl might think she was wasting her time."

"You're good at this, Clementine," he said, slowly nodding his appreciation.

"I'm just giving as good as I got," she replied, deciding to cut him a bit of slack now she had had a bit of fun with him. It wasn't as if she actually wanted him to get up and leave. "I'm not used to guys being so..."

"Forward?" he suggested, since there didn't seem to be any other word for it.

"Well, yeah," she said. "I mean, last week you flat out told me I looked hot. We had barely met each other."

"Just calling it how I see it," he replied, now sounding closer to his comfort zone.

Now it was Clementine who didn't know what to say. She covered for herself by taking another sip from her cup, then changed the subject. "Okay, I think I made my point about being forward. But seriously, you don't get on with your dad?"

Logan thought over his answer for a moment. "Things are better than they used to be," he decided to go with. "My mom's made some progress with smoothing things over these past few months. But let's just say that wrestling isn't the career dad had in mind for his sons."

"That's... quite a remarkable thing to hear," Clem said, eyebrows raised. "A McMahon doesn't want his sons in the wrestling business? I find that bizarre."

"Tell me about it," Logan mumbled. "Dad was more of the opinion that I should go to some Ivy League college, then when I was done there I should go work in one of the companies he has interests in. Following that, I suppose he wanted me to make my own way in the business world, just like he did."

"But being a stuffy suit wasn't for you?" Clem guessed. She had only interacted with the guys a few times, but she could easily tell that about him. He came across as a person who liked to be the master of his own destiny; someone who liked to take chances; someone who liked to be his own man. Being told what his career path was going to be would not have sat well with him at all.

"No way," he said definitively. "I always loved wrestling, and I always wanted to do it myself. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what that's like."

"Nope. I always wanted to wrestle too."

"I tried explaining that to my dad many times, but he just wouldn't see it from my point of view. He always said I could do better for myself in the business world than I could in WWE. Maybe in terms of earning money, he might have been right. But unlike him, money isn't a huge motivator for me."

Clem really liked that. It was the first major point Logan had scored. She had been lucky enough never to have been poor, and probably never would now, but she had still never been a materialistic person. Men who drove around in ridiculous sports cars or flashed stupidly expansive jewellery around the place did not impress her at all. In fact, she looked down on them for their pettiness. There were a lot more important things in life, as far as she was concerned. Family and happiness were her top two, and neither one of those things required money.

"Clem?" Logan prompted her, making her realise that she had left a bit too long of a pause.

"Sorry. I was thinking that you're right. I don't like materialistic people at all. They think people will look up to them for what they have, but I just find them pitiful and shallow. Not that I'm trying insult your dad," she added quickly as it hit her that he might take her comments that way.

"I didn't think you were," Logan smiled. "But in some ways, you would have been right. When I told him that I had applied to try out down at the Performance Center, he told me that if I signed for WWE, he would take away my trust fund."

"And what did you say?" Clem asked, intrigued now.

"I told him he wasn't going to blackmail me, that he could take away the trust fund and stick it up his ass. I told him I didn't want his money if I was going to have to suck his dick for it. Oh, excuse my language," he said, holding up a hand in apology.

That told Clem something else about him that she liked. While he had been forward in how he had approached her to have a drink with him, he did have manners. That was something she considered to be important in a guy - in any person for that matter. "It's fine," she told him, with the first real, genuine smile she had offered him. "I admire you for sticking up for what you wanted to do. You chased your dream, and, since you're here, you got it."

"I'm on the way to getting it," Logan clarified. He stopped to finish the rest of his drink. After putting the empty cup down on the table, he let out a small sigh. "I'm stuck in the mid card. I had bigger ambitions than that."

"Give it some time. You have the talent to be a main eventer," Clem said with confidence.

"Thanks." Logan shook his head emphatically, as if trying to physically shake off the negativity that had just intruded on the conversation. "Listen to me complaining. I don't usually do that. Maybe we should change the subject? I'd like to know some more about Clementine Rollins."

While he had been speaking, Clem had almost finished her drink. When she heard the final sentence, she gulped the rest of it down. "I'll get us another drink first."

"I'm okay, thank you. But you go ahead," Logan said.

Clem got up and went over to fix herself another drink. By now, she was quite used to telling the story of how she had come to be adopted by Lucy and Seth without getting too upset about it, since it was often the first thing people wanted to know about her. What bothered her the most about it was that it was often a conversation killer. People felt upset on her behalf, then didn't know what to say. So, she decided on her way back to the table, she would skip over it this time. If Logan wanted to know so bad, she would tell him another time.

"So, more about Clementine Rollins?" she asked when she sat back down across the table from Logan.

"Yeah," he encouraged, lounging back in his chair with a relaxed smile on his face. Apparently he was enjoying her company. That put her at ease a bit more.

"I have a thing for wearing baseball caps. In a way you might say I'm like a baby with a security blanket or something. I just feel weird when I'm not wearing one," she admitted with a self-depreciating giggle.

"I like that," Logan said warmly.

"You said I looked nerdy last week," Clem objected.

"I said hot and nerdy," he pointed out. "And anyway, I didn't mean the cap. I meant that little smile you do when you're self-conscious."

Clem felt her cheeks start warming up. "I do?" she asked, fighting the urge to giggle again.

"Yep. That one right there," he said, smiling broadly.

The moment hung between them for a few seconds. Clem could tell that he really did like her. While they had only met in person the week before, he had of course had the chance to see her on NXT programming. She got the impression that his eye had been on her for more than seven days. It was an interesting revelation, but it required confirmation. She took off her cap, ran a hand through her hair to try and tidy it up a bit, then smiled at him. Their eyes had been locked together the whole time. "Do you have a crush on me, Logan?" she asked softly.

There was a flicker of embarrassment on his face, but then he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. I know I came across as confident and..."

"Forward," Clem said, grinning at the chance to use the word of the day.

"And forward," he agreed with a grin of his own. "But I was actually worried you might say no. And I really didn't mean to offend you when I said you looked nerdy. That just kind of slipped out. I regretted it straight away."

"No offense taken. And you kind of didn't give me the chance to say no," she pointed out, putting her cap back on. Even teasing him wasn't a good enough reason to leave it off for long.

"Then my plan worked," he said with a smile that struck Clem as quite endearing. The guy had charm and humour in him; both things she considered more important than looks, not that he was exactly lacking there either.

"Your plan worked," she agreed. "But Logan, I have to be honest with you. I just got called up to Raw last week. There are a lot of big changes going on in my life right now, and I have a massive opportunity that's just been presented to me. I need to be focusing on that."

He nodded. "I get it. You're not looking to get distracted by getting involved with a guy."

Clem felt bad, thinking that it might seem like an excuse to blow him off, when in fact it was simply the truth. "I'm sorry, but..." she began, only to be cut off.

"Don't apologise. I really do understand. I remember how crazy it was when I got the call up, so I don't want to make things worse for you. Just promise me one thing?"

"What's that?" Clem asked openly.

"We'll sit down over another coffee later in the week."

Clem appreciated that he wanted to spend more time getting to know her, but also wasn't going to try and push for it to happen faster than she wanted. "Deal," she said, with what she hoped was her best smile.

"Clem?" It was Lucy's voice, coming from behind her. There was a tone of displeasure there; the reason being more than obvious.

"Hey, mom," Clem said, turning in her seat to look at her.

Lucy fixed Logan with a scowl for a second, then addressed her daughter. "We need to go sit down with Joe. He's the agent for our matches now, and he has the plans for tonight."

Clem quickly got up, coffee cup in hand. "I know, Mr Helmsley told me." She turned back to face Logan. "I have to go. I'll see you around."

"You will," he said, giving her a little wave.

As she followed her mom out of the room, Clem was getting unhappy vibes. "You've got the wrong idea, mom," she said, deciding to get in first. "I was just having a coffee and a chat with the guy."

Lucy looked at her sceptically. "Really?"

"Really," Clem said sincerely. One thing she had in her favour was that both her parents knew she prided herself on not lying to them. "I actually just got through saying I'd sit down over coffee with him again, but I'm not interested in anything more than that right now. He's hot, but I haven't worked this hard, to come this far and lose my focus now."

Those wise words convinced Lucy that she didn't need to be annoyed. "You were always mature beyond your years, Clem. I couldn't have put it better than that myself."

"But he is hot," Clem added cheekily, getting a withering look in return.


	9. Chapter 9

"I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this storyline already," Clementine said to Elena D'Agostino. She had just joined the La Famiglia team in Gorilla, ready for their segment. Nikki Bella was on her way to ring to get the ball rolling.

"It's good. It will be a lot of fun," Elena agreed cheerfully.

Amused, as always, by her accent, Clem was glad that she wasn't rude enough to actually laugh about it. But she did like the idea of ridiculing it some more on TV if the opportunity presented itself, so long as she could do it without causing genuine offense. "Are you sure you don't mind if I ridicule your accent out there?"

"It's, how do you say, water off a duck's back? Is that right?"

"Yeah, that's it," Clem said, grinning at the choice of phrase, and the fact that she had gotten it right.

"Hopefully we get to wrestle soon," Elena said next. "I would like to be in the match at the Royal Rumble."

"It's a shame they're keeping you on the outside as a manager," Clem agreed. "I can understand why they do it, though. Your gimmick as the boss is really good, and it makes sense that you would delegate the dirty work to these guys." She gestured to Mackenzie Sawyer, Jackie Cassidy and Amy Morgan.

"We're also quite good at it," Amy said with a grin.

"I'm not doubting that," Clem clarified quickly, wondering if she had offended them by talking about her desire to wrestle Elena and not mentioning any of them.

"We know," Jackie said easily.

"The match at the Rumble should be good, but they really need to put us over," Mackenzie put in. "That way, I can see this rivalry lasting through Wrestlemania, or maybe even further. But if we lose, it pretty much kills it there and then."

"Agreed," Clem said. She was of the mind-set that she had no real input in the creative process, so she went along with what she was told to do. Unless there was a glaringly obvious error in the writing that really did need to be reconsidered, she wasn't one to try and get involved. She was level-headed enough to realise that was partly due to the fact that Hunter had always been pretty good about making sure she was looked after.

Out in the ring, Nikki had started her promo by saying that she needed to be clear about the fact that as Raw General Manager, hiring and firing was not her area of responsibility. That clarification was designed to tie in with the doubts about whether Elena had the Raw GM on her payroll – an issue which was very much up for debate among WWE's fans.

"Hunter Helmsley, as Chairman of WWE, handles those kinds of things, and can also go over my head on other matters. For example, if he so chooses, he can get involved in making matches. Now, as you are all aware, I made a three on three match at the Royal Rumble between La Famiglia and the team of Paige, Rieke and Lucy Rollins. I can inform you tonight that thanks to an injury sustained at a live event two weeks ago, Paige will not be able to compete at the Royal Rumble."

Backstage, Clementine smiled to herself. She was about to be announced as Paige's replacement in the match, and she felt sure she knew how that revelation would be received by the crowd.

"It has been decided that the match will go ahead as planned, with three women on each team," Nikki was saying, carefully avoiding specifying who had made the decision. "With Paige being ruled out, it is my duty to announce that a replacement has been found. So, at the Royal Rumble we see La Famiglia take on the team of Lucy Rollins, Rieke, and…" she let her voice trail off to build the anticipation. Sure enough, the noise from the crowd rose noticeably.

Clementine could imagine the commentary team asking who it might be, even though the answer was obvious to anyone with even half a brain, given what had happened the previous week.

"Clementine Rollins!" Nikki announced emphatically.

The roar of excitement from the crowd made the hairs on the back of Clem's neck stand up. To begin with at least, she was as over with the main roster audiences as she had been on NXT. She knew that on this occasion, the cheers would quickly turn to boos. Sure enough, La Famiglia's music was cued, immediately drawing the ire of the crowd.

As was always the case, Elena's underlings made their way out onto the stage first. As they were doing so, the Italian turned Clem, now with her game face on. "I look pissed off enough, yes?"

"You sure do," Clem confirmed with a grin and raised eyebrows. The accent was one thing, but no one could deny that Elena had some of the best facial expressions in the business at present. She followed the other three through the curtain, intensifying the booing from the fans.

Clem could imagine the team storming down to the ring to confront Nikki. Whether or not Nikki was in Elena's pocket was up for debate, but the fact that her announcement was not welcomed by La Famiglia was most certainly not.

After her music faded out, Elena started right in on Nikki, sounding absolutely livid with her. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Nikki Bella?" she demanded, speaking the name as if it was a long way beneath her. "The match was made: La Famiglia against Paige, Rieke and Lucy Rollins. That was the match you made. If Paige can't make it because she got herself injured, that's her problem. There should be no replacement."

The fans were booing again, not least because, in kayfabe at least, Paige's injury had been inflicted by Elena's team in the first place. "Shut the hell up while I'm talking!" Elena roared at the crowd, predictably achieving the exact opposite of what she had told them to do.

Clem had to admit she was loving the promo before the time even came for her to get involved in it.

In the ring, Elena's attention returned to Nikki. "I'm going to be kind to you, Nikki," she said in a threatening manner. "I'm going to give you a chance to change your decision."

"The match has been made official. There's nothing I can do about it," Nikki said with obvious reluctance about what might happen next.

Mackenzie Sawyer, known on TV as Andromeda, grabbed Elena's microphone and snapped, "Well there's something I can do about it." With that, she knocked Nikki down with a right hand and attempted to start laying kicks into her. She was thwarted by Elena, who got physically involved herself, dragging Andromeda away, angrily yelling at her for acting without being ordered to do so.

Clementine knew that her moment was soon to be at hand. One of the crew members handed her a microphone.

Out in the ring, the entire La Famiglia team were now squabbling - for the first time not completely conforming to their boss's orders. Elena slapped Andromeda hard across the face, simultaneously screaming at her to remember her place. Seeing things quickly going south, Jackie Cassidy and Amy Morgan took on the role of peacemakers, trying to calm the other two women down before things really got out of control.

The fans were already cheering the dissention in the ranks, hoping that Andromeda was going to knock Elena's lights out and break up the team. But then Clementine's music hit, sending them into a frenzy. Clem walked out onto the stage, looking down to the ring with an expression that conveyed she had never seen anything quite so ridiculous in her life. Much like the previous week, the ovation she was receiving had her arms covered in goosebumps. It was a feeling that would never get old.

Elena sold the interruption by angrily taking off her suit jacket and hurling it at the ropes as she raged at Clementine to come down to the ring. Her underlings had also quickly forgotten their quarrel with Nikki, who had gotten back up, looking a little dishevelled.

Clementine watched on, shaking her head in disbelief. After a moment, her music faded out. "Elena, before you and your little bunch of flunkies start beating up managers, referees, commentators or ring announcers, I've got something to say. You ought to be focusing on listening, so stop with those ridiculous Italian hand gestures, shut your mouth, and pay attention. Now, Rieke and Lucy are not here yet, but you can take it from me that when they left Raw last week they were perfectly happy with that fact that at the Royal Rumble, it was going to be the two of them taking on La Famiglia. However…"

She abruptly stopped speaking because she heard a small number of fans trying to start a 'Clementine' chant. The fact that she stopped drew attention to the chant, and within moments it was echoing around the arena, to the immense displeasure of Elena in particular.

"However," Clem went on once she was able, "I can say with confidence that now, once they hear about Nikki Bella's announcement, they'll think things just got even better."

The crowd cheered loudly again. Clem knew the commentary team would be doing their best to hype up her addition to the team for those viewers who hadn't ever seen her wrestle on NXT. "Elena," she called out next. "There are two things I can promise you at the Royal Rumble. Number one, those three idiot flunkies you've got there are going to get their asses kicked like never before. And number two, and I want you to listen to this one very carefully. If you stick that pointy thing on the front of your face in the match or in my business, Elena, I am promising you, and you can look in my eyes when I tell you this, I will bust your legs. I'll make sure that all you'll be the boss of is riding around in a wheelchair. And that's all I've got to say about that," she said emphatically, ending the promo with her catchphrase.

The crowd sounded their approval again as Clem's music hit, but it was obvious from the tone of the cheer that they relished the confrontation that might be incoming. Elena against Clementine going at it was something they wanted to see. Clem hoped Hunter was taking note back there in the production office.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" It was Nikki, talking over Clem's music until it stopped playing. Fearing for her safety, she had vacated the ring and was walking around to the entrance ramp. "It's more than obvious that some people around here need to let off some steam, so I'm going to make that happen tonight. Andromeda, you want to punch me in the face? Well let's see you do the same thing later in the show, when you go one on one… with Lucy Rollins!"

Bombshell dropped, Nikki's music began to play. Clem made sure that her facial expression sold the fact that she approved of the match that had just been made, while the ladies in the ring seemed a little less enthusiastic about it. It was a good piece of writing to have Nikki make the match as an apparent act of revenge for being assaulted, since it introduced an element of doubt as to whether she was in fact in Elena's pocket.

With that, Clementine's involvement in that week's Raw was at an end. The match later in the night would end in victory for Lucy, with her then quickly retreating through the crowd when the rest of La Famiglia rushed the ring to try and beat her down.

Clem turned and made her way off the stage. When she walked through the curtain to the back, Samoa Joe was there waiting for her. She imagined that because it was only her second appearance on Raw, and her first with him as her agent, he had wanted to make she knew he had her back.

"Nice job, Clem," was his verdict as he nodded his approval.

"Thanks, Joe. The crowd was great again. I just can't wait to have my first match now."

Joe gave her an understanding smile. "Only a couple of weeks to go. Once you've got that first match under your belt, you'll go from strength to strength."

Those words meant a lot to Clem, and she took them to heart. "I really do hope so," she said quietly.


	10. Chapter 10

Checking her watch, Clementine saw that she had some time to kill before heading down to the hotel's lobby. It was Wednesday morning; the day she was going to open a toy store with Selena Robbins. Once they had opened the place, there was going to be a meet and greet session for the 300 fans who had been lucky enough to land themselves a wristband. They would also be taking away a collectable figure of one of the women courtesy of the toy store. "That's one hundred and fifty signatures to do," Clem thought out loud, shaking her head at the prospect. Signing that amount of items was repetitive in the extreme.

Since there was time to spare before the car came to collect her and Selena, Clem decided to call Alexa Bliss, or Aunt Alexa as she called her. Despite there being no actual relationship between them, Alexa and Dean had been awarded the aunt and uncle status due to being close friends with Seth and Lucy, which had meant they had featured regularly in Clem's life for the past eleven years. With how busy she had been of late, they hadn't exchanged anything more than a few text messages. Sitting down on the end of the bed, she called Alexa's number.

The phone only rang a few times before the call was answered. "Hey, Clem," Alexa said, talking very quietly. "Blake's asleep, so I'm going to walk outside."

Clem pictured Dean and Alexa's one year old son. He was the cutest thing she had ever seen. As for Dean, he made a surprisingly good dad, from what Clem had seen anyway. "How are you all?" she asked. "I'm sorry I haven't called for a while. Things have been pretty wild, as I'm sure you can imagine."

"We're fine, thanks," Alexa said, now at a more usual volume. Clem imagined her standing out by the pool at the back of their house. "And I totally understand that you've had a lot going on. It's such a huge change when you make the main roster. You're killing it, by the way."

"Thank you," Clem said warmly. "I was really nervous about how the fans would react towards me, but it pretty much feels like I'm carrying straight on from NXT, just working with different people in bigger arenas."

"What's it like working with your mom?" Alexa asked next, humour obvious in her tone.

"It's so much fun. As you know, I've always dreamed about it, now it's happening. It was sneaky of Mr Helmsley to make me not say anything to her about my debut so that he could get her genuine reaction on TV."

"It was sneaky, but the feels!" Alexa exclaimed dramatically. "So many feels! I had tears in my eyes myself. Even Dean went quiet for a minute, which says a lot in itself."

"He even sent me a message!" Clem reported, making it sound like it was equivalent to putting a man on the moon.

"I know, he told me! That's when you know it meant something to him."

"It really did mean a lot to me as well; both of your messages did," Clem said, more seriously now. "Everyone's been so supportive. Literally the only issue I've had so far is mom coming to find me in catering the other day, when I was having a coffee with Logan McMahon."

"Uh oh," Alexa chuckled. "What did she say to him?"

"Nothing," Clem recalled. "But she gave him a look that would have turned milk sour."

Alexa laughed loudly. "That I can believe."

"There wasn't really anything to it, though. I was just having a drink and a chat with the guy. It's not like I'm dating him all of a sudden. I only just met him! But Mom did have a point; that I should be focusing on my work right now. I had actually already told Logan that, which made her cool off pretty quickly when I told her."

"I know Lucy's protective of you, and that might seem annoying sometimes, but it's only because she loves you."

"She does," Clem said softly, feeling more grateful for the fact than she could express. After a moment, she shook it off and asked, "So what about you guys? How's little Blake getting on?"

"He's missing his Clem Clem," Alexa said, obviously grinning like an idiot.

"Aww, that's so sweet," Clem gushed. "I can't wait till we can stop by and see you guys. I'll talk to mom about it. Next time we're somewhere near, we'll be there."

"You're more than welcome to stay the night. We have plenty of room, and Blake's sleeping through most nights now."

"What about Dean?" Clem asked, meaning to ask how he was getting on.

"He sleeps through most nights too," Alexa giggled, taking the question literally. "I don't even have to change his diapers very often."

"Eww, Uncle Dean in a diaper," Clem said, grimacing. "Please don't make me think about that image again."

Alexa pretended to scold her. "That's my husband you're talking about!"

Clementine laughed, then paused for a moment before changing the subject. "So, are you going to be in the Rumble? It's only a couple of weeks away, so they must have plans in place by now."

"You have your mom's gift for subtlety, Clem, you know that?" Alexa chuckled.

"What can I say? Mom taught me that if you want an answer, you need to ask a question."

"Jesus, it even sounds like I'm talking to Lucy. Besides, even if I was in the Rumble, I couldn't tell you," Alexa said mysteriously. "Who knows, maybe your Aunt Alexa will find herself kicking your ass?"

"Aunt Alexa could try," Clementine grinned. "But then Clem would have to throw her ass over the top rope."

Both women had a good laugh at the banter, then Clem heard Dean's voice in the background. "Who's that?" he asked. It sounded like he had walked outside to join Alexa.

"It's Clem. Do you want to speak to her?"

"Not really," Clem heard him reply, along with the sounds of the phone being handed over. Her Uncle Dean's unusual brand of humour always made her laugh, and she was doing so when he came on the line and asked, "What's up, kid?"

"Hey, Uncle Dean," Clem said cheerfully. "We were just saying that mom and I will stop by and see you next time we have a show in Vegas."

"Not if I can barricade the doors and windows fast enough, you won't."

Clem laughed again. "You guys are so mean to me. You're talking about barricading me out of the house and Alexa's talking about kicking my ass in the Rumble, if she's in it, which she won't tell me one way or the other."

"If she's in it," Dean said, tone noncommittal. "We know someone who will be there, though. You're doing a really job on Raw so far. They need to let you and that Italian chick go at it. That's money right there."

"Thank you. I was thinking the same thing Monday night. There's always Wrestlemania. None of us know what they have planned as far as that's concerned." Only then did it occur to her that Alexa was not the only Ambrose who might show up at the Rumble. "What about you? Are you coming to the Rumble? Even if you're not in it, you can still come. I'd love you to see my first match in person."

"Might come. Might not. You can interrogate me all you like, I'm saying nothing."

"Fine," Clem huffed, although she had to smile as she did it. "I have to go anyway. I'm getting picked up soon to go and open a toy store with Selena Robbins. They're giving away our figures to fans, too. I still think it's wild that there's a Clementine action figure."

"And a new Clementine shirt," he added.

That was news to her. "There is?"

"Yeah, Alexa saw it on Twitter or something earlier. It's got your face on the front of it and 'That's all I've got to say about that' in fancy writing. It looked quite good actually."

"I'll have to take a look," Clem said, trying to picture it. "Nice of them to let me know about it."

"That's WWE. Communication isn't exactly a strength for them sometimes."

"Says the man who hardly ever has his phone turned on," Clem quipped.

"People reach me if they need to," he defended.

"Yeah, by calling Aunt Alexa most of the time."

"True," Dean chuckled. "I'll let you go, kid."

"Okay, Uncle Dean. I'll see you at the Rumble," Clem said craftily.

"Nice try," he said dryly. "Even I'm not dumb enough to fall for that one."

Clem laughed. "It was worth a try. Speak to you later."

"Have a good one," Dean said, before ending the call.

Checking her watch, Clem saw that she still had a few minutes to spare before the car was due to arrive. She decided to get down to the lobby and wait there. There was a fair chance that Selena would be down there waiting by now.

Sure enough, when Clem stepped out of an elevator into the lobby a couple of minutes later, she found her colleague sitting on one of the comfortable chairs provided for guests, tapping away on her phone's screen.

Over the past week or so, Clem had gotten to know Selena a little, since they were now traveling partners as well as kayfabe teammates. She had discovered that they shared something in common, in that they had both lost their parents much too early. Although Selena had been sixteen at the time, compared to Clementine's ten, in a way, her situation had been worse, since she had been left with a little sister to care for. To move to Florida from England and carve out a successful career as a wrestler from that starting point, without the kind of inside access that Clem had been able to benefit from, was most definitely admirable. So far, Clem found Selena to be a nice person, and someone deserving of a lot of respect.

"Morning, Clem," Selena said pleasantly, looking up at her as she approached.

"Hey. How are you?"

"Really good. Looking forward to opening a toy store? It's something different to do, hey?"

"Sure is," Clem agreed. "I always love meeting fans. I know some of the guys don't, but I don't get that logic. We make money because of them, and besides, they look up to us. Or, I should say, a lot of them do."

"True," Selena said reflectively, before playing devil's advocate. "But it can be a real pain in the arse when they start doing stupid shit like airport stalking. Ugh, I hate that."

"I've heard mom and dad complain about that kind of thing, but I've not really had to deal with much of it yet. I mean, sometimes I'll bump into someone who recognises me, but that can happen anywhere. I don't mind taking a few seconds to get a picture with people, so long as they ask politely."

"Yep, but you're new to the main roster. Give it a few months, until you're one of the household names, then you'll see what I mean."

"You think I'm going to be a household name?" Clem asked, imagining young girls having posters of her on their bedroom walls. What a crazy thought that was.

"You think you're not?" Selena asked, sceptically raising her eyebrows. "I don't know if you've heard the reaction you get when your music hits, but you're quite popular."

"I've not really thought about it, to be honest with you. I mean, obviously I found it awesome and humbling that people went wild for my entrances, but I've been more focused on just doing a good job, you know? The last thing I wanted to do was screw up on one of my first couple of Raw appearances."

Selena nodded. "I get that, Clem. But you'll soon get over that stage. It's obvious they're going to push you, so of course you're going to be a big deal." There was no bitterness in the comment, Selena was simply stating what she saw as the facts.

"Well, that gives me something to think about," Clem said quietly. She felt pressurised to live up to expectations, both from WWE and from the fans. Luckily, she liked working under pressure. It was tough, but it was also rewarding.

"I bet that's our driver," Selena said, pointing to man dressed in a dark blue suit and sunglasses, who had just walked into the hotel. He was looking around the lobby for someone. When he saw the two ladies walking over towards him, he smiled in recognition and gave them a wave.

After greetings were exchanged, he led them out to where he had parked the car. While they were walking, Clementine found herself looking forward to getting to the toy store, and to her second appearance of the week. "It's going to be a lot of fun to see everyone. I've got another appearance to do Friday as well."

"Yeah, Lucy said they gave both of Paige's appearances to you. That's what I'm saying; Hunter's pushing you already. Notice that they didn't give either of them to your mom? They want to get your face out there in a positive sense as much as possible. That's good though, when you think back to how some NXT call-ups used to get wasted in Vince's time. He would probably have kept you away from things like this for a while."

"You're right. I'm glad that, uh, Hunter is in charge now." Clem was glad that she had remembered just in time not to call him Mr Helmsley. She really did need to get away from that when she was talking to or in front of colleagues, as hard as it was to break the habit.

"Where are they sending you, anyway?" Selena asked.

"To some kind of charity food kitchen. Mackenzie is going with me, and we're going to be serving food to people in need. I really, really love that idea. It's exactly the kind of thing we should do more of."

"You and I see it that way because of what we went through when we were younger. We know that people can find themselves in tough circumstances through no fault of their own, and we know how much it means when others help you out. But there are some on the roster who probably don't see it that way. Like you were saying earlier, they don't even really like interacting with fans."

"Yeah? Well fuck them," Clem said. She could tell that she had surprised Selena by cursing, since it was something she didn't do often, and not at all in front of her mom. "If there's anyone who thinks they're above helping out at something like a food kitchen, they can damn well let me know and I'll go instead."

As they reached the car and got in, Clem noticed that Selena had gone quiet, and had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm okay, I'm just thinking. You might have given me an idea," Selena said quietly.

"Do I get to know what this idea is?" Clem asked, trying to coax the information out of her.

"No, not yet. I need to think about it some more."

Clem was totally lost as to what the idea was, but some instinct was telling her that she might like it.


	11. Chapter 11

"I've been looking forward to this all week," Clementine said to Mackenzie Sawyer. The two ladies had just been dropped off at the charity food kitchen for the two hour appearance that had been arranged by WWE.

"Me too," Mackenzie replied. "It'll be something different to signing autographs for a couple of hours, that's for sure."

After walking into the building's entrance area, Clem took a look around at the displays of enlarged photographs on the walls. They featured shots of people who were clearly down on their luck being served plates of surprisingly delicious-looking food by the kitchen's staff. Everyone in the pictures was smiling. She was struck by what a nice welcome the scene provided for first time visitors. Although she had known it would be the case ahead of time, she really felt like this was such an uplifting place. There was a lot of negativity in the world, but this was totally the opposite: people coming together to help others. There were few things Clem believed in more in life than that ethos, dating back to when she herself had been the one in need, and Seth and Lucy had stepped up for her.

"Maybe we'll have our pictures up there?" Mackenzie speculated, pointing to the far wall, where there was still some free space.

"I'd love that," Clem said, still looking around at the pictures. She noticed that most of the staff were women, and most of them were African-American. The customers – if that was the correct word – were mostly white. She considered that a triumph for race relations.

The door that led into the main body of the building opened and a very short woman who had to be in her sixties walked through. Clem recognised her from some of the pictures. "Hi. Are you Clementine and Mackenzie?" The woman asked in a cheerful tone that matched the smile on her face.

Clem offered her hand. "Yes. I'm Clementine. We're really excited to be here."

"I'm Flora. It's lovely to meet you both."

"Thanks for inviting us," Mackenzie said warmly as she took her turn to shake hands.

"Please follow me," Flora said, turning and walking back through the door she had arrived through, then holding it open for her guests.

Clem walked into the dining area, finding that several people were already in there, eating their free meals. The tables and chairs were all cheaply made, but that was hardly important. What mattered was that the food looked good. Each plate contained a thick slice of crusty bread, a portion of salad, rice, chicken and a few vegetables. "The meals look nice," she said to Flora as they headed for the staff door that lead to the kitchen.

"We do the best we can. Often, we rely on food that people donate to us, or food we buy with money that is donated, which we then cook and serve."

"How do people apply for a free meal?" Mackenzie wanted to know. "Or can anyone come in?"

Flora stopped in front of the door. "Anyone can come in for a meal. It would be wrong to try and put restrictions on it." With that, she opened the door and walked into the kitchen.

"We're glad to be able to help," Clem said, following along behind. "What would you like us to do?"

Flora considered that for a moment, looking around at her staff, who were busy cooking or plating up food. "I'd like one of you to help with plating up the food, and one to take it to tables for people. Is that okay with you?"

"Absolutely," Clem said. "I'll work in the dining room then, passing the meals out. Are you happy to do the plating up, Mack?"

"Sure," McKenzie agreed easily.

"Alright," Flora said, pleased with the positive attitude from the volunteers. "McKenzie, I'll have someone show you the correct portions for each plate. Clementine, you'll collect plates from the counter and take them to consumers, and bring used plates back here to be washed. Each consumer also gets a choice of a hot drink, fruit juice or water, so you'll also be handing those out."

Clem nodded. "Got it. Shall we get started?"

"Before you do, I need you to put one of these on," Flora said. She picked up a nearby roll of disposable plastic aprons, tore one off and handed it to Clementine. After Mack took one for herself, Flora added, "You'll also need to put gloves on, please." She offered them a box of latex gloves.

Clementine pulled a pair of gloves out of the box and set about working her hands into them. "Feels more like I'm about to perform surgery or something," she said once her fingers were comfortable.

Flora smiled. "Thankfully not, but you might be busy. Some days we are, others not so much."

"Busy isn't a problem," Clem assured her.

"Okay. Clementine, you can go back into the dining area, if you want to make a start. You'll be told which tables to take the food and drinks to. Mackenzie, come with me, please."

Heading back into the dining room, Clem felt happy to have gotten the role of delivering the food. It gave her the chance to meet some of the consumers. She now knew that was the right word.

Clem walked up to the counter, where one of the team, an overweight but jolly looking woman, had just placed a plate on a plastic tray, along with a cup of coffee and a knife and fork. The meal was ready to go out.

"The older guy in the back corner, please," she said to Clem, pointing in case there was any doubt about who she meant.

"Sure." Clem picked up the plate and carried it over to the man's table. His grey hair was unwashed and messy, as were his clothes. The poor guy was probably homeless, she realised, feeling sorry for him immediately. "Your meal, sir," she said politely, setting the plate down in front of him.

"Thank you," he said, looking up at her with tired eyes. His smile was genuinely warm. "What team is that? I don't recognise it."

For a second, Clem was confused. Then she realised he was talking about her baseball cap. "Oh, it's not for a team. It's actually mine. I'm a wrestler. The company I work for sent me to volunteer here today for a couple of hours."

The man laughed good-naturedly. "You're a wrestler? A little thing like you? I'd never believe it."

Clem had to smile at that. At five feet six, she was hardly a 'little thing'. "My aunt used to wrestle. She's five feet nothing, and she was a champion many times."

"Really?" the man asked with raised eyebrows. "You learn something every day, huh? Well, it's really good of you to come and volunteer. Or do they force it on you?"

"Absolutely not. I couldn't be happier to be here," she assured him.

The man seemed to like that answer. "Well, thank you," he said before picking up his knife and fork.

"You're welcome." With that, Clem walked back over to the counter, where two more trays were being prepared. Since she and Mack had arrived, several more consumers had come in.

"These are for the lady and the little girl," a staff member told her, gesturing to a nearby table.

Clem picked up a tray in each hand, being careful not to let anything fall from them on the short walk to the table. "Here you are," she said with a smile as she put a tray down in front of a young blonde girl who she guessed to be around eight or nine years old. The other tray went to the woman, who was definitely the mother. The two looked very much alike. A single mother finding herself up against the odds, Clem guessed.

"Thank you," the woman said kindly. "What do you say, Lily?"

"Thank you," the child echoed shyly.

"You're welcome," Clem said, feeling her heart aching for the little family. She went back up to the counter, even though there were no other trays ready yet. While she watched Mackenzie fixing her first tray, Clem heard the little girl, Lily, talking excitedly to her mother.

"But she had the Clementine cap! And she looks so much like her!"

"Honey," the mother said gently, "You're not going to meet wrestlers at the food kitchen, I'm afraid."

Clem saw an opportunity to make this day one that Lily would never forget, since she obviously had an interest in wrestling. Turning around, she took off her cap and beamed one of her best smiles. "Actually, today, you will. I'm Clementine Rollins."

Lily squealed in excitement, her eyes going as wide as saucers. "Clementine?" she gasped, disbelieving.

"Yes, Lily, it's me," she said, walking back over to the table. "I'm helping out here today, so that I get to meet some awesome people like you."

"Oh my," the mother said, plainly taken aback. "Lily talks about you a lot when she watches, what is it called? NXT?"

"Yeah," Clem smiled, thinking better of clarifying the point that she was now on Raw. It hardly mattered. Lily seemed too stunned to say or do anything. "Can I get a hug?" Clem asked her, crouching down.

"Yes!" Lily cried, hopping off her chair and walking into Clem's arms.

Once they had pulled apart, Clem said, "I didn't expect to meet anyone who recognised me today, but since you did, I think I should maybe give you something." Before Lily could react, Clem took off her cap and put it on the little girl's head. "There you go; you can have my cap."

"Oh! Thank you!" Lily said excitedly, taking the cap straight back off so that she could look at it. She turned to her mother. "Mom, I got Clementine's cap!"

"I can see that, sweetie. Thank you so much," the mother said to Clem with real feeling.

That and seeing the delight on Lily's face was all the reward she needed. "You're both welcome. I have to get on, but maybe we can get a picture before you leave. Andromeda is here, too. I'll see if I can get her to come out for the picture as well."

"Thank you again, for being so nice," Lily's mom said.

"Sure thing." With that, Clem went and fetched her next tray from the counter.

* * *

Half an hour later, Clem passed by the table where Lily and her mom were sitting on her way to the kitchen with a tray piled with dirty cups, plates and cutlery from the tables she had been clearing. She noticed that they were almost done with their meals.

After dropping off the dirty items at one of the sinks, Clem walked over to Flora, who was currently cooking a fresh batch of rice. "Hey, Flora. I know we're busy right now, but there's a little girl out there who recognised me. They're about to leave, so I figured we might get a picture, with me and Mack? Maybe you could put it with the others out front?"

"Okay, but we'll have to be quick," Flora decided. She looked over at a male staff member nearby. "Tyrone, can you get the camera, please? There's a wrestling fan out there who would like a picture with Clementine and Mackenzie."

Having noticed the conversation, Mackenzie had walked over in time to hear the final sentence. "Aww, the little blonde girl?" she guessed.

Clem nodded. "Yeah. Her name's Lily."

Tyrone had walked into a room out back of the kitchen – Clem guessed an office of some kind. He now emerged carrying a digital camera.

Clementine led the way back out to the dining room and approached Lily's table. "I brought Andromeda out, Lily. We'd like to get a picture with you."

"Awesome!" Lily yelped, looking up at another of the women she had seen on TV. "Hi, Andromeda. You don't look so mean."

"I'm not so mean when Elena's not around. But you need to keep to keep that a secret."

"Oh, okay," Lily said seriously as she got up to join the two wrestlers so that they could pose for the picture. Clem couldn't help smiling, or imagining that was exactly how she must have acted when she had first gone backstage with Lucy.

Clem and Mackenzie stood either side of Lily, and all three of them said cheese when instructed by Tyrone.

"I'll make sure to post that picture later," Clem promised Lily.

After they had been thanked profusely for their kindness by Lily's mom, it was time to get back to work.

* * *

Later that day, Clementine was sitting in the women's locker room, about to get changed for the upcoming house show. Her mom was beside her, busy chatting away to Selena Robbins.

Rather than join the conversation, Clem decided to check Twitter. She had asked Tyrone to send her the picture they had gotten with Lily. Sure enough, it was there in her direct message inbox.

Clem saved the picture, then added it to a new tweet. She typed out a caption: _It was great to meet Lily today while I was serving food at a charity food kitchen. Moments like this are one of the main reasons we do what we do. It was very humbling to be able to help people in need. I hope to able to do so again soon._


	12. Chapter 12

Lucy and Clementine walked out into the arrivals lounge at Orlando International Airport. Among the sea of faces in the crowded terminal building, one stood out for them.

"There he is," Lucy said. "That really is a sight for sore eyes."

Clementine had to agree. It felt like ages since she had seen her dad. But there he was, waiting to pick them up and drive them home. And there was not an annoying, airport-stalking fan in sight.

"Two days at home with my man. I don't think I've ever needed anything more," Lucy added as they worked their way over towards where Seth was standing.

"No more info, mom, please," Clem joked, although she totally agreed with the sentiment, albeit for slightly different reasons. It definitely did suck that her dad wasn't on the road with WWE at the moment to make her first few weeks on the main roster a family affair.

"There's my girls," Seth said warmly once they got close enough to hear him. He spread his arms out and Lucy walked right into them, letting go of her travel case's handle.

"Oh, I missed you," Lucy sighed while they embraced.

Waiting her turn, Clem smiled. Her mom might not have seemed capable of it to most people in the Raw locker room, but she really was a loving wife and mother, and Seth was most definitely a loving husband and father. She was truly blessed to have been adopted into such a close family, and the fact never escaped her. She hoped it never would.

"I missed you too, babe. The house feels so weird when it's empty," Seth had just said.

"Well it's not going to be empty this weekend," Lucy assured him. With that, she stepped aside so that Seth could greet Clementine.

"Clem! Come here, sweet pea," he said, stepping towards her and offering his second hug in as many minutes.

"Hey, dad," Clem said, holding him tightly and resting her chin on his shoulder. "I've missed you. I've really missed you."

"I've missed you, too. I'm sorry I've not been there, but I have an idea in mind to make up for it."

"There's nothing to make up for," Lucy quickly said. "But I'm still open to the idea, whatever it is."

"Me too," Clem agreed as they parted.

"The idea is that tomorrow night all three of us can do whatever you'd like, and I will arrange it all. Whether it's going out for a meal or a few drinks, in which case I'll be the designated driver, or whether it's having a family dinner at home, in which case I'll cook. I want you both to have a great time, but to unwind at the same time."

"That sounds really lovely," Lucy said quietly, giving him a peck on the lips. "We're lucky ladies."

"We really are," Clem agreed. "We'll have to do some thinking on that, right, mom?"

"Yeah. We have to make the most of it," Lucy grinned.

"Well, first we've got to get home," Seth said. He took Lucy's case for her and they made their way out of the terminal building, heading up the road towards the lot where Seth had left their car. "Oh, I have some news," he slipped out casually, as if it was something like new neighbours moving in down the street.

"Go on," Lucy said.

"I'm in the Royal Rumble," Seth said casually, knowing full well the reaction it was going to get. Two sets of delighted female shrieking noises were his reward as he turned to face them with a crafty smile on his face.

"I knew Hunter would call you!" Lucy cried, grabbing him into another hug. "What a thing; all three of us in matches on the same night. I can't belive it," she finished, voice breaking as she did so.

That made Clem tear up. The fact that she was now a main roster talent was clearly still an emotional thing for her parents, as it was for her. "I can't wait, dad," she said, giving him a loving smile as he looked over Lucy's shoulder.

"Roman and Dean are in, too. Hunter told me. I hope they do a spot with us all in the ring at the same time. One Shield powerbomb and I'll be happy."

"Screw that," Lucy said as they parted again. "They should have you win it. You deserve one more Wrestlemania main event."

"I don't think that's on the cards," Seth told her pragmatically. "One of you two, maybe. Me? No. There are much better guys than me out there now; we all know that. If they offer me something interesting for 'Mania, I'm up for it, but if not, that's their call and I respect it."

Clem badly wanted to try and convince him to have a go at working more regularly for one more run, but she knew she would be wasting her time. They had already discussed it as a family a year or so earlier, and Seth had been firm in his decision that his body couldn't stand up to it, thanks to having several serious injuries in his career. While he could have accepted the money and worked the shows, his performances would have sucked, by his high standards, and he was too proud to turn in poor matches for the sake of a pay check. It was something Clem really respected about him, yet she still felt it was a shame that he was pretty much done as a wrestler.

Those were the reasons that Lucy responded supportively. "It'll be great to have you there with us at the Rumble, and to see you out there with Dean and Roman, if that happens."

"Thanks, babe. Hey, what about Alexa? Is she going to be there?"

"You tell us," Clem said, shaking her head as she took it upon herself to answer the question. "You can tell she's been with Dean a long time; she has his craftiness. It's like drawing blood from a stone trying to get info out of her."

"Then she's in the Rumble," Seth decided.

"Probably," Lucy nodded. "Maybe a Twisted Thorne reunion. Although, since they had me change to Lucy Rollins last year, I don't know if that would work now."

Seth gave a little shrug. Both he and Lucy had spoken up against the idea of changing her character's name when they had been put into a storyline together, but Hunter Helmsley had stood his ground, saying that if there was going to be a storyline about man and wife, the man and wife should have the same surname. Apparently it had escaped him that Stephanie was still referred to by her maiden name on-screen, and always had been.

"At least now we have Lucy Rollins and Clementine Rollins," Clem said, trying to brighten things up. It worked.

"That's right," Seth chuckled. "Everyone knows you're my girls."

"Your girls who would like to get home," Lucy said, displaying all of her usual tact and patience.

"Well, come on then," he fired back, playing along. He took her case again and they resumed the walk to the car.

A few minutes later, Clem was sitting in the back of the car as her dad navigated away from the airport. They hadn't gone far before her phone rang. She was already holding it in her hand, so she saw right away that Bayley's name was on the screen. It had been a few days since they had last had a chance to catch up, so Clem was keen to take the call. "It's Bay," she announced to Seth and Lucy.

"Say hi," Seth replied.

Clem answered the call. "Hi, Bay. I'm in the car with mom and dad. They say hi."

"Tell them hi," Bayley said cheerfully. "How are you guys? I hope you're all good?"

"We are," Clem said happily. "We're just on the way home from the airport, ready to spend two whole days at home. It's going to be great."

"Aww, I hope you have a great time." The smile on Bayley's face came through clearly in her voice.

"How about you? You doing okay?"

"Yeah." Bayley paused for a second. "There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about, Clem. It's something that's not for everyone to know. You can tell Seth and Lucy if you like, but no one else, okay?"

"Uh, okay," Clem said hesitantly. "Am I about to hear good news or bad?"

"Good. Definitely good. The thing is, uh, you might have heard some rumours about this already."

Clem knew what she was going to say right away, and her heart filled with joy. "You and Daga?" she asked delicately.

"Yes. We've been dating for a while, but we've been trying to keep it on the quiet. Even now, some people aren't very tolerant. Anyway, it seems pretty much everyone in the locker room knows now, or suspects at least, so we decided to start telling our friends."

"I'm really happy for you both," Clem gushed, wishing they were talking in person so that they could have shared a hug. But then, she supposed Bayley found it easier to talk about it over the phone. If that was better for her, then so be it. "I don't know Daga, but she seems nice. And she's damn sure hot."

"Oh, I know," Bayley breathed. "Not only that, though. She's such a sensitive, caring person. You'll get to see that as you work with her some more. I truly have found one in a million."

"Aww, that's so sweet. Daga's just as lucky to have you, Bay, trust me."

"Thanks, Clem. That's a lovely thing to say. Listen, I have more calls to make, so I'll let you go. I'll see you at the Rumble."

"Wait, you will?" Clem exclaimed, assuming that she meant she was in the women's rumble match.

"Yeah. You don't think I wouldn't be there for your first match, do you?" Bayley asked, quickly covering herself.

"I guess not," Clem said, doubting it was as simple as that, but deciding not to labour the point. "I'll catch you later, Bay."

"Bye, Clem."

"Did I just hear that right?" Lucy asked as soon as Clem ended the call.

"You can't say anything about this to anyone," Clem told both Lucy and Seth. "Bay said I can tell you, but she doesn't want it to go further than that."

"Our lips are sealed," Seth said.

At the same time, Lucy said, "Bayley and Daga really are a thing. Wow. I'm happy for them. They'll make a great couple."

"I know," Clem enthused. "I can't wait to see her now. I wanted to give her a hug so badly."

Seth chuckled. "She really has trained you well."

"I was a hugger before I started training," Clem said with a big grin, meeting his eyes in the rear-view mirror.

"That's true," he acknowledged with a grin of his own.

Lucy said, "I can't ever remember feeling as excited for an event as I am about the Rumble. We've got Clem's first match, which also happens to see us teaming up. We've got you in the Rumble, Seth, and Roman and Dean hopefully at the same time. And we've got other friends like Alexa and Bayley there as well, also hopefully in the women's rumble match."

"It's going to be amazing," Clem agreed. "Honestly, I barely slept last night. I woke up after an hour or so and found myself just lying there thinking about all the things that might happen. I had to remind myself that we've not even been told if we're in the rumble match. To my knowledge, Hunter's said nothing to anyone about it yet."

"We'll be in it," Lucy assured her without even a hint of doubt in her voice.

"I really hope so. This weekend at home, just the three of us, is going to be wonderful, so please don't take it the wrong way when I say that next Sunday can't come soon enough."

"I know what you mean," Seth said. "We're looking forward to it as much as you are. Don't worry, the days will fly by and it'll come around before you know it."


	13. Chapter 13

Royal Rumble Sunday had arrived. Clementine had been looking forward to it for many reasons, not least of which was the fact that she would be making her first main roster pay-per-view appearance, teaming up with her mom. She could not imagine a better way to do it. Then there was the fact that she was now a confirmed entrant in the women's rumble match. Two matches on the same night, both of which promised to be amazing, for different reasons.

But first, she thought as she and Lucy approached the Raw women's locker room, there were some friendly faces to catch up with. Sure enough, as Lucy led the way into the locker room, Clem saw that both Alexa and Bayley were already there.

"Lexi!" Lucy said, delighted to see her best friend.

"Lucy! Clem!" Alexa called out, hurrying over to them. Lucy was the first to get a hug, even returning it in kind. With amusement, Clem wondered how many of the other women in the locker room were surprised to see that from her.

Then it was Clem's turn. "Hey, Aunt Alexa," she said warmly as they hugged. That was one name that was not going to change, no matter what company she was in.

"I'm so glad I'm going to be here for your first match," Alexa replied. When they released the embrace, Alexa held up a sheet of paper. It was a list of the entrants for the women's Royal Rumble, listed by the number they had been assigned. "We're both in early. You and I will be in the ring at the same time."

"We get to wrestle each other?" Clem shrieked, her excitement making it come out much louder than she had intended.

"We do," Alexa beamed. "It might be the only time, but we're going to do it."

While they had been talking, Lucy had been greeting Bayley, Elena and the rest of the La Famiglia team. Bayley now approached Clementine. "If there was ever a reason to be disappointed to get number thirty in a rumble, this is it," she said before spreading her arms for a hug that Clem gladly accepted. "I'd have loved to have been in at the same time as you."

"It's a shame we can't go at it, but I love that they've given you that number. It's going to be a great surprise for the fans. But no one has told me what number mom has?" she asked as they parted.

"Five after yours," Lucy reported, studying the list for herself.

"Hopefully they'll still have me in by then," Clem said. "If so, we need to do something between the three of us."

"I already put some thought into exactly that," Alexa revealed.

"Oh? Tell us what you came up with," Lucy instructed.

Alexa laid out her idea. Both Lucy and Clem were happy to go along with it.

"So, who's winning the thing, anyway?" Clem asked.

Elena provided the answer, naming one of the women from Smackdown.

"Oh, well. Raw can't win them all," Clem said, remembering not to pass on congratulations to Elena and Bayley. Their relationship was not public as yet, at least not officially.

Lucy held up her phone to Clem and said, "Got a text from Seth. He's with Roman and Dean. He wants us to go find them so we can all catch up. You coming, Lexi?"

"Absolutely," Alexa nodded.

"Catch up with you in a bit, Bay," Clem said before she followed her mom and aunt to the door.

As she followed Lucy to wherever they had been asked to meet up with the men, Clem couldn't help smiling to herself. She was anticipating seeing her Uncle Dean for the first time in ages. He was such a unique guy that she loved spending time with him. He usually had something sarcastic to say to her, but she actually liked that about him. Between that and his dry humour, she was always laughing when she was around him.

Then there was Uncle Roman. She didn't consider herself quite as close to him as she was to Dean and Alexa, but he had still always been kind and supportive to her, and she very much appreciated it. It would be nice to catch up with him.

It turned out that the guys were waiting for them in the hallway near their locker room. "Here they are," Dean announced when they walked around the corner.

Seth came forward to greet Alexa, and Lucy approached Roman. That left Clem with Dean. "Hey, Uncle Dean," she smiled, knowing that a hug was out of the question. He was at the opposite end of the scale from Bayley as far as that was concerned.

"Hey, kid," he replied in what had become the customary manner. As soon as she was in range, he tried to flick the brim of her cap so that it flew off her head. She was used to that trick by now, though, and managed to get a hand on top of her head in time.

"You can't get me with that one anymore."

Dean laughed. "It was funnier when I could."

"I'm so glad you could make it for my first match," Clem said happily.

Dean shrugged offhandedly. "I came because Hunter talked me into a spot in the rumble."

"Bullshit," Lucy grinned, having heard what he said. "Don't listen to him, Clem. He would have been here tonight, come what may."

To Clem's immense surprise, Dean actually turned serious. Maybe fatherhood was encouraging that side of him to come out more? "Of course I would," he said. "You're doing a great job, Clem. It won't be long before you're the one going for the title at 'Mania. Or defending it, I guess."

Clementine was almost rendered speechless by that. She could not remember her Uncle Dean calling her by her name, not even once. Kid was the word he had always used. To hell with it, she decided, and hugged him. "Thanks, Uncle Dean. It really means a lot."

He didn't say anything in reply, but she felt him briefly squeeze her in return. It was the tenderest moment they had ever shared, and it made her tear up. Normal service was soon resumed. When she let go of him and stepped back, he flicked her hat off in the same manner he had tried before.

"Lucy will deck you," Seth warned him, drawing laughter from everyone in the group.

Laughing good naturedly, Clem bent down to retrieve her cap, but Roman got there ahead of her. "Congratulations again on the call up, Clem. You're really killing it," he said as he handed the cap back to her.

"Thank you," Clem smiled, meaning both for the compliment and the return of the cap. She put it back on, warily glancing at Dean. She saw that he was now talking to Lucy.

"How are you finding it all?" Roman asked her.

"I'm loving every minute of it. People talk about living the dream a lot. I really am doing it right now. No matter how they book my two matches tonight, it's going to be a night I'll never forget."

Roman looked around the group of close friends with a knowing smile on his face. "I think that goes for all of us."

* * *

Primarily to give those involved enough rest time before the rumble match, the six woman tag team contest was first on the card.

After the show's opening pyro display and intro music were done, Rieke's music was first to play. Fired up for the start of the show, the fans gave her a loud reaction.

Waiting behind the curtain with her mom while their partner made her entrance, Clementine knew that she was up next. She was focused on running through her spots in her head, but a loud sniff interrupted her thoughts. "Mom?" she asked, seeing Lucy hurriedly wiping tears from her eyes with a gloved hand.

"I'm just a bit overwhelmed right now," she gulped. "I'm so proud of you, sweet pea."

"Please don't. You'll start me crying as well," Clem said tenderly.

Knowing that there were only moments to go before Clem's music hit, Lucy gave her a peck on the cheek. "Ignore your mom. She's a big softy sometimes."

Clem giggled at the choice of words. "No, Uncle Dean is the big softy, remember?"

"You're right," Lucy laughed. Just like that, the tearful moment had passed.

It was a good thing too, because Clem's music hit, to an even louder reaction. "Here we go," she said, to herself as much as to Lucy.

"Love you," Lucy had time to say before Clem disappeared through the curtain.

Walking out onto the stage, Clem found herself confronted by a real wall of noise. This was by far the biggest crowd she had ever wrestled in front of, and most of them were going wild for her.

On her way down to the ring, as she threw her cap into the crowd, she found herself hoping that she could put in good enough performances to keep up this level of support. She had certainly been given the chance to do exactly that, since she was booked to spend most of the match getting her ass kicked by La Famiglia. Selling for others and then fighting back was her biggest strength in the ring, and it always got the crowd behind her.

She walked around the ring, climbed the steps on the far side, and then got up on the middle turnbuckle to give her customary diamond pose, which was returned by a significant number of the audience. Then her music faded out, quickly being replaced by Lucy's, and another ovation from the fans.

Now that the cameras were off her, Clem climbed to the top rope, then dropped into the ring and walked over to join Selena Robbins in the corner. Watching her mom make an entrance for a match that they were about to wrestle was such a strange, yet incredible experience.

"This must be surreal for you?" Selena said to her.

"Just a bit," Clem replied with heavy understatement.

Lucy completed her entrance and joined her two teammates on their side of the ring. They all shared a few words, but they were all spoken in-character, since the cameras would be on them.

La Famiglia made their entrance next, coming to the ring as a team, following Elena, their leader. Clem just stood in the corner and watched on, trying her best to take it all in. You only got one debut, so it was best to try and commit it all to memory.

Once the opposition were in the ring, Lucy took charge, insisting that she would start for their team. Clem climbed through the ropes and took up her positon in the corner, and the referee ordered the bell to be sounded. The match was under way.

* * *

Clementine had spent the past five minutes isolated in the ring, with every dirty trick in the book being used by La Famiglia to try and put her down for a three count. Her ability to sell the moves she had been taking, and to make it look like she really was having the crap beaten out of her had the fans enthusiastically cheering her on. They yelled approval with every kick out she managed to pull off, as did her partners in the corner, who were desperate to make a tag. When Clem managed to reverse an attempted double team move by Andromeda and Amy Morgan into a double DDT, the chance finally presented itself.

Selling the beating she had taken, Clem crawled slowly across the ring towards her corner. She knew she had to tag Selena, as she was the one who had been selected to eat the pin in this particular contest, and the finish was now at hand.

Selena and Lucy were both yelling encouragement to her and stretching their hands as far into the ring as they possibly could. Making like she was summoning all the energy she had left, Clem launched herself the final few feet and made the tag to Selena. With that, her part in the match was over. She rolled to the outside, where she would stay down until she heard the decisive three count happen.

The fans were going wild now. Clem could picture the scene perfectly. Afraid of the hot tag, La Famiglia would all have rushed the ring, which would in turn have made Lucy get in on the action. There was a loud cheer and a big impact on the canvas. That would have been Lucy hitting the Thorne in the Side on Andromeda.

Jackie Cassidy would now throw Lucy out over the top rope, and they would continue fighting on the outside, eventually heading for the backstage area, leaving Rieke alone in the ring with Amy Morgan.

Boos signified to Clem that the finish was at hand. Elena would be up on the apron, distracting Rieke. The fans cheered again, which would have been a response to Elena taking a punch to the face, sending her flying off the apron. However, the distraction would have served its purpose. Clem could imagine Amy coming up behind Rieke for the cheap roll up pin, aided by the ultimate insult: pulling the tights for extra leverage.

The three count was made, to the obvious disappointment of the audience. It was Clementine's signal to start getting back up. Her team had lost the match, but she was to have the final say in the segment. Using the ring apron to pull herself to her knees, she looked into the ring and saw Elena in there, having quickly gone after Rieke now that the match was over.

Once Rieke had been beaten down, Elena posed for the fans, rubbing her superiority in their faces. That was when Clementine slid under the bottom rope, quickly changing the boos into cheers. The fans knew what was coming next.

Sensing that something was wrong, Elena turned around, straight into Clem's version of the Diamond Cutter, which she had named the Diamond in the Rough.

With the crowd delightedly cheering her, Clem struck her signature pose as her theme music began to play, while Andromeda dragged Elena out of the ring so that La Famiglia could make a hasty retreat. It was a good way to bring the segment to an end, and it was a good setup for events that would take place later in the night.


	14. Chapter 14

Entering the Royal Rumble at number five, the enormous Jackie Cassidy, a member of La Famiglia, had made quick progress in clearing the ring of the other four entrants. The last of the bunch to sail over the top rope was Little Kuma.

"Kuma is gone," Corey Graves said on commentary. "Jackie Cassidy looks very pleased."

"I should think so. She made quick work of four ladies, and now has the ring to herself," The Miz said. As the heel commentator, he was happy about the fact.

The countdown for the next entrant had started while he was speaking, with the crowd counting along.

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

The buzzer sounded, then Clementine Rollins' music hit. The crowd erupted.

"It's Clementine Rollins!" Renee Young yelled in her role as play-by-play commentator. "Cassidy doesn't look so happy now that she's heard Clementine's music!"

The second Clementine cap of the night disappeared into the crowd as she sprinted to the ring. Sliding under the bottom rope, she went right after the bigger woman with right hands - the fans roaring her on.

Graves called out, "Clementine getting right in the face of Jackie Cassidy! Look at her go!"

As part of her trademark striking combination, Clementine would deliver multiple right hands, followed by a stiff left hand once the opponent was staggered, then she would put them down with a right-handed uppercut.

"Oh, what a left hand!" Renee exclaimed as Cassidy collapsed against the ropes in a dangerous position. Thinking that an elimination was coming, the crowd got even louder.

But when Clem launching in with the uppercut, Jackie reacted quickly and smashed her in the face with a clothesline. Clem sold it like she had been hit with a tree trunk, going down on the back of her neck and shoulders. It took the wind right out of the crowd's sails.

"Good God," Graves said. "That nearly killed her."

"With one clothesline, Clementine is in big trouble," Miz said.

He was right. Cassidy methodically set about kicking her smaller opponent around the ring like she was an empty Coke can. Doing their best to help, the fans chanted Clementine's name.

As the countdown started again, Jackie was just picking Clem up, looking like she had the intention of throwing her out. Hearing the fans counting down seemed to make her think twice, and she tossed Clem aside like a ragdoll.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

The buzzer sounded. Alexa Bliss' music hit. The surprise return got a loud ovation.

"Alexa Bliss!" Renee called out. "Little Miss Bliss is here. A multiple time champion, and a former Royal Rumble runner-up."

Alexa had sprinted to the ring. Sliding in, she ran right at the woman who was over a foot taller than her. It was a good thing that the huge clothesline Jackie threw was too high, or Alexa's head might have been in danger of coming clean off her shoulders.

Instead, Bliss continued her momentum and hit the ropes. As she came back at her opponent, she lunged shoulder first at her knee. Cassidy hit the mat like a bag of hammers, much to the delight of the crowd.

"That's why I'm the Goddess!" Alexa yelled, showboating for the fans.

"I have to admit, I've missed Alexa Bliss," Miz said begrudgingly.

Since her best interests were served by keeping the enormous Cassidy on the mat until more help arrived, Alexa spent the next two minutes working on her legs, while Clem lay in one corner, flat on her face. She was just starting to get back up when the countdown started again.

"Six!"

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

After the buzzer, Lucy Rollins' music hit. In a late change of plan, she had been moved up the order just before the match had started.

"Lucy Rollins!" Renee shouted as the crowd went off again. "We've already seen Lucy and Clementine Rollins in the same ring once tonight. Now we're going to see it again!"

"And don't forget Lucy was a long-time tag team partner of Alexa Bliss," Graves added.

"Twisted Thorne," Miz confirmed.

Running to the ring wasn't Lucy's style. She came down the entrance ramp in the same purposeful manner as for any other match.

Seeing who was next to join the match, Alexa had started the difficult job of starting to get Jackie Cassidy up off the mat. "Help me!" she called out to Lucy when she entered the ring.

Lucy was willing to oblige. She walked over and completed the job of getting the taller woman to her feet.

Revitalised, that was when Clementine exploded out of the corner with a barrage of right hands to Cassidy, sending her reeling across the ring towards the ropes. The left hand connected, and this time so did the uppercut. However, it was still only enough to leave Cassidy on her feet, leaning against the ropes.

Alexa took it upon herself to have a go at finishing the job. She rushed at Jackie and connected with a very impressive-looking dropkick. Cassidy fell against the ropes again.

Getting up quickly, Alexa repeated the dropkick, and then hit it a third time. Cassidy was out of it, but still in the ring. Then someone else stepped forward.

The crowd popped big time as Lucy took centre stage. Since she was bigger than Clem, and significantly bigger than Alexa, she had a better chance of finishing off Jackie. Clementine and Alexa both pointed to her theatrically, as if to say, "Your turn."

Looking around at the crowd, Lucy played up to them – a very rare thing. She pointed at herself, asking if they wanted her to have a go.

"Listen to this place!" Renee called out over a deafening roar.

Accepting the challenge, Lucy sprinted at Cassidy and hit her with a tremendous clothesline which knocked her backwards over the top rope to the floor.

"Yes!" Graves exclaimed. "Jackie Cassidy is gone!"

"It took three of them to do it," Miz griped.

The three women remaining the ring had been celebrating, but Alexa reverted to type, hitting Clementine with a stiff kick to the stomach, then a DDT.

With the fans booing the dastardly act, Lucy turned around, looking angry at what had just happened. Alexa was left standing in between the fallen Clementine and Lucy.

Lucy ran at Alexa. To everyone's surprise, Alexa was able to get a move in, delivering a back body drop. Lucy came down on top of Clementine, dealing her even more damage.

"Wait a minute! That was a Twisted Thorne move!" Miz reminded everyone.

"And so was this!" Renee cried out as Alexa rushed over to the corner and climbed the ropes. Lucy walked over there, so that Alexa could climb onto her shoulders.

Graves said, "Twisted Thorne. Just like old times."

"But that's Lucy's own daughter on the mat," Renee objected.

It didn't seem to matter to Lucy. With Alexa on her shoulders, she walked closer to Clem, so that Alexa could deliver the modified version of Twisted Bliss.

Leaping into the air, it was too late for Alexa to react to the fact that Clementine had begun to move. With perfect timing, Clem was able to turn the Twisted Bliss into a Diamond Cutter.

"Oh my God!" Renee screamed as the fans totally lost their minds. "I've never seen anything like that in my life!"

It was certainly enough to finish off Alexa. Looking down at her, Lucy shook her head. The message was clear: no one messes with my daughter. She picked Alexa up and flung her over the top rope, into elimination.

Rather than cheers, though, the fans were suddenly crying out in horror. On the other side of the ring, Elena D'Agostino, who wasn't even in the match yet, had appeared and bundled Clem unceremoniously over the top rope.

Looking up at the ring from the floor, selling her anger at what had just happened, Clem felt delighted with her first Rumble appearance. Even though it was now over, she had been made to look good in both of her two matches on the show.

In the ring, Lucy attacked Elena for what she had done, while Clem got up and started to make her way to the back. When her name started echoing around the arena, she figured that was a very good sign. The main roster fans loved her, as the NXT ones had. Since she was supposed to pissed at being unfairly eliminated, she unfortunately couldn't acknowledge the support.

Walking through the curtain into Gorilla, she got a ripple of applause for her efforts. Hunter called out, "Good job, Clem."

"Thanks," she said to the room in general, with a little wave of gratitude.

Gorilla wasn't a place to linger in the middle of a rumble match, so she quickly made herself scarce. A little further along the hallway, she saw someone leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for her.

"I'd call that a pretty good night, Clementine," Logan McMahon said with his usual self-confidence.

"I would too," she agreed with a smile.

"It'd be even better if you'd let me take you to dinner."

Clem couldn't help smiling broadly. "Oh, it would?"

"It would," he replied simply.

Clem thought about it for a second. Ultimately, she had to go with her instincts. "Okay, you can take me to dinner."

END


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